


Fate Is Never Wrong

by celestialenigma



Series: Omega-Verse [1]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Drama, Eventual Fluff, M/M, Mpreg, Omega Verse, Past PruHun, True Mates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-20
Updated: 2015-09-16
Packaged: 2018-04-10 05:24:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 49,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4378934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celestialenigma/pseuds/celestialenigma
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Lovino turns eighteen he has his heart broken. Then, he waits for his true mate to come along only to be disappointed when one never does. He feels as if he will  be alone forever. So when he's at his younger brother's mating ceremony, why is it that the pale-skinned, red-eyed German alpha smells like his mate? Gilbert, won't even acknowledge what Lovino knows to be true.</p><p>That they are true mates.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back with another story! Yay!
> 
> This time it's a Prumano omega-verse. I love both Spamano and Prumano and ship them equally. There isn't enough Prumano in the world though, so I needed to write some. There will be hints of Giripan, Amecan (incestual, but no details, they will have their own seperate story), Past PruHun, Ausswiss, SpaBel and maybe more.
> 
> This will most definitely have mpreg in it. However I am pretty confident in my ability to write it believably. I have some made-up 'science' in my head to go with it. As well, I am inspired by the works of an Author called Eresse who writes a series called, 'Tales of Ylandre' and by an Author called I.D Locke who wrote a story called Balancing Karma. Both are mpreg and I will borrow ideas for birth from it. They are amazing works and you need to read them if you like mpreg or good original fiction. Go do it!
> 
> This will be sad for a while as Romano is perfect angst fodder. Also, Prussia may seem OOC, but all will be explained as to why that is. The first three chapters are solely from Romano's perspective. Chapter four is where you'll get Prussia's POV.
> 
> So, I'll end what is probably my longest author's notes yet and get on with the story. Enjoy!

Chapter One

 

The first memory Lovino Vargas ever had was when he was four years old.

His mother was pregnant with his younger brother, very heavily so and was pretty much confined to her bed since moving was so difficult. Lovino remembered waking up in the middle of the night and taking all of the pillows and blankets from the house that he could find. He propped open his closet door and piled all of the soft items inside, creating a ring out of the pillows. 

The next morning, excited and bouncing, he managed to coax his mother out of her bed to come look in his room.

“I made you a nest mommy!” he said with a chubby cheeked grin.

Then he crawled into the nest and settled inside. Lovino looked up and expected to see a happy look on his mother's face. He'd done it just for her after all. Instead, she was frowning. She called for Lovino's father. When his father saw the nest, he almost seemed angry.

Lovino remembered how his own face had fallen. He'd just wanted to help.

Both of his parents left the bedroom and went into the kitchen. Lovino didn't understand what he'd done wrong, being a small child as he was. He heard his parents speaking in hushed tones and sounding quite upset. They used words like 'first-born' and 'omega'.

Lovino hadn't understood then what was wrong. Didn't understand why his father didn't play with him as often as he had before and why his mother refused to cuddle him as much anymore.

When his mother went into labour, his parents brought him to stay with a neighbour, Mr. Karpusi. 

The Greek man was a beta and had a mate who was also a beta, Mr. Honda. They were true mates who lived in a rather nice sized home at the end of the block. Lovino was put in the guest bedroom of the house. Incidentally, that was where most of Mr. Karpusi's cats slept.

Lovino hated it there, despite how nice the two men were. The cats were all over him all the time like a little plague. He couldn't sleep at night. He was there for nearly two weeks and wondered where his mommy and daddy were. Why hadn't they come back for him?

When he got home, his father finally picking him up, he was promptly ignored. Everybody was fawning over the new baby, his aunts, uncles and even his grandfather. Lovino went to his room, hid in the closet and cried. 

As Lovino grew older, he became painfully aware of a deep unfairness about the world; first-born males were expected to be alphas. Lovino was an omega. Therefore, he was shunned by his family.

Feliciano was an omega as well. But in the world they lived in, that was okay, even expected to a certain degree. It pissed Lovino off and he felt himself get jaded about the world. Found himself snapping at everybody around.

Even the boy who would become his best friend, whom he loved deep down despite his cursing and hitting: Antonio.

 

It was in elementary school that he first met Antonio. Lovino was in grade one and Antonio was in grade two. He was a curly-haired boy who had moved there from Spain. The boy immediately decided that Lovino and he would be friends. They became inseparable. Where one was, the other would be close by. Neither were interested in anybody else aside from as friends. Everybody was certain they'd be mates and the boys were too.

When Antonio reached the age of eighteen, the age that every person craved; he developed his own mate scent. The smell that drew together true mates.

Lovino still had a year to go, but that didn't matter. Both he and Antonio were sure they'd be mates.

However later on that year, Antonio stopped spending so much time with Lovino. Stopped calling him at all hours of the night and day. Lovino, though he hadn't reached the age of maturity yet, was still very concerned over his future alpha. It wasn't like Antonio.

Despite his normal stand-offishness and outward insisting that he didn't give two shits about the man, Lovino found himself outside of Antonio's house. His parents would be at work at that time of day, so Lovino just let himself inside. They'd known him for most of his life anyway and so wouldn't care. 

He neared Antonio's room when he heard a strange noise.

There were words drifting down the hall in a Spanish accent, “Oh yes. Ai! So good.”

Feeling his heart sink to his feet, Lovino dashed to the room and threw open the door. Inside, in a nest in the corner of the room was Antonio. The Spanish teen, now man, was pounding into a blonde woman who was wearing a green ribbon in her hair. The smell of heat filled the room, thick like a hot humid day. Antonio's alpha teeth had obviously grown in, sharp and sinking into the crook of the woman's neck. Right where the mating mark would be.

“What the hell?” said Lovino, too stunned to speak at his normal loud volume.

Deep down of course he knew what he was looking at, but he didn't want to think it. He didn't want it to be true.

Antonio's eyes snapped over to Lovino and they looked feral with a flash of yellow over them. The Spaniard leaped from the rather well-constructed nest and charged Lovino.

With a hand on Lovino's throat, Antonio snarled, “Get away. Mine!”

Normally an alpha wouldn't be threatened by an omega, but one in heat in a nesting room was unpredictable. Lovino knew this, but tears still sprung up to his eyes. He pushed away from the alpha and ran out. He got into his car and drove. He didn't know where he was going, just that he needed to get away.

Tears blurred his eyes so bad that it was a wonder that he didn't crash. 

A week later, of course, Antonio apologized profusely. He felt bad for threatening Lovino and for not telling him sooner that he had found his true mate. Lovino told him that it was okay and that he didn't care.

Though he did but dammit he wasn't going to let anybody see it.

Most people met their mates when they were eighteen. Sometime in that year they would often find the person who was destined to be with them. Their perfect mate. Though full of heartache from not being able to be with Antonio, he was excited on the day he became of age.

But the year passed without event.

So Lovino waited. And waited.

Waited through his nineteenth year, his twentieth, twenty-first and twenty-second.

Nothing.

No mate.

Nobody.

Lovino watched his high school friends get mated, have wedding ceremonies, children, houses.

Lovino was alone.

And felt like he always would be.

#

The store was empty, the sign on the front door flipped to say closed. Lovino bent down to a wooden crate and began to fill a display with the shipment of oranges that had come in that morning. They were all organic, everything in the store was. He'd already put out the bananas, the red and green peppers and the apples. His grandfather was in the back. Roma Vargas had claimed to be doing paperwork but was in all likelihood sleeping at his office desk.

Lazy bastard.

Lovino used a handkerchief in his back pocket to mop sweat off of his brow. He hated doing work like this, but the alpha man that used to do the majority of the stock work at their family shop had found his mate and needed to move to be with her. Lovino usually switched between working on the cash register and prepping fresh ready to go meals. That was one of their shop's other specialties. One that made them quite successful in their town.

Looking up at the clock, Lovino scowled.

Feliciano was late for his shift this morning and the shop was due to open in a half hour. Everybody in his family were a bunch of lazy bastards.

Lovino rolled his hazel eyes and went to the front door. He looked out and just at the very edge of where he could see, at the right was a flash of brown hair and a distinctly familiar curl.

Throwing open the front door, making sure of course that he had his keys on him first so that he wouldn't get locked out, he stormed to the outside.

“Hey, idiot! Get out here I fucking saw you. You're late for your shift and there was a fuck-ton of produce coming in and you know how useless our grandfather is,” yelled Lovino, being ignored by most of the people wandering around in the area; they all knew Lovino and were used to him.

Feliciano's face peeked out from around the side of the building. His eyes were squinting so much that they were nearly closed and his face was down in a frown, “I'm sorry fratello.”

His brother was still hiding mostly out of sight and Lovino narrowed his eyes, “What the hell are you hiding?”

“W-What? What makes you think I'm hiding something?” said Feliciano trying to retreat away from Lovino.

Lovino stomped over, making sure each and every one of his footsteps was nice and loud. He looked into the alleyway and saw Feliciano in full. There wasn't much out of sorts, just him in his work shirt and slacks.

Behind him, however, was a giant, blond who looked like he was made of only muscle. He had blue eyes and a severe frown as well as crossed arms. He wore a boring, stiffly pressed shirt.

That was when Lovino noticed it. On Feliciano's neck was a bite mark, red and fairly fresh.

Lovino felt his jaw drop, “No fucking way.”

“I met him on the first of my days off. His name's Ludwig. He-” started Feliciano, looking away with a flush on his face, “He's my true mate. I love him.”

An ache settled in Lovino's chest, deep down. He resisted the urge to clutch at his own chest and held back the tears that tried to fall. He felt a hand on his shoulder, light and gentle.

“You'll find your mate one day I'm sure Lovino,” said Feliciano in that too sweet voice of his. 

The fact that his baby brother had found his mate already after only just turning eighteen a month previous? It hurt. But he couldn't let anybody notice.

“I don't care about that,” said Lovino, tromping to go behind Feliciano and poke at the giant muscle who's name was 'Ludwig'.

What the crap kind of name was that anyway?

“I'm just upset because this guy looks like a murderer,” yelled Lovino, jabbing his finger into the man's chest once more. 

“I would kindly ask you to refrain from poking me,” said Ludwig, in a thick German accent.

“Or yeah, or what?” demanded Lovino, backing up despite his bold words.

Before Feliciano had a chance to get between them, the side door of the store opened and a voice drifted out. Soon after, Grandpa Roma poked his head out, “What's all this racket? You're disturbing my sleep – er – work.”

Lovino rolled his eyes.

Feliciano bounced over, clapping his hands, “Grandpa! I found my mate. This is Ludwig. Isn't he great?”

As Roma petted his favoured grandson's head, Lovino went back the way he came. Somebody needed to finish up work and open the store. 

For once, he was glad for the distraction of work.

#

“Fratello, are you listening to me?” asked Feliciano, cocking his head to the side, though Lovino hardly saw it.

The shop was nearly dead at that time of night when it was almost time to close. Lovino was flipping through a magazine about gardening. He'd found an article on heirloom tomatoes and so was reading it. Feliciano had been planning his wedding for nearly a year. The date was approaching quickly, in a week in fact, but Lovino was damn sick of hearing about it.

Lovino was going to be his best man. This had made Lovino secretly happy for a little while. He did want to at least try to live up to the title. However, Feliciano would sit him down with whole stacks of mate ceremony magazines and expect them to look over each one in a single sitting. He'd drag him to every single wedding store in the damned province and scour every inch of each place. Feliciano would call Lovino in the dead of night to ask a simple question. The most inane was:

“Fratello, I think I want the centre of each table at the reception to be sprinkled with sparkles. What colour of sparkles do you think I should have?” asked Feliciano innocently.

Lovino had told him to fuck off and hung up. Not the kindest way to deal with the situation. But Lovino was never known for his politeness, especially in the middle of the night. 

Today, Lovino had been listening to his little brother up until the words, “Ludwig's brother”, had tumbled from the other man's mouth. That had instantly put up a wall in Lovino's mind and he didn't want to listen anymore. So he nodded every now and then and made the occasional thoughtful hum.

When he heard the question, he said, “Of course I'm listening dammit.”

Ever the sweet and naive man, Feliciano smiled wide and said, “Well good then. So you'll know what not to say to Gilbert? He isn't in his right mind anymore but Ludwig really wants his brother there at the ceremony and Gilbert wants to be there too and-”

Lovino put down his magazine, tearing his eyes away from the riveting article on tomatoes - Damn he wanted some of those seeds - and raised a brow at Feliciano, “Shut up already and of course I heard you. Now let's get closing up the shop.”

Whatever. He didn't need to know anything about Gilbert. It wasn't as if he was planning on talking to the guy or anything. That last thing Lovino needed was to talk to another potato bastard.

#

Shit. 

Lovino was late to the rehearsal dinner. He'd taken a nap and then slept through his alarm. His clothes were thrown on hastily and even though they were great quality, they made him look rumpled. His hair was in a disarray and he tried to fix it as best as he could in the mirror that was build into his car's sun visor. 

When he was sure that he didn't look like a total slob, he ran out of his car and dashed into the hall where the reception would be held the next day. 

The door flew open before he got too close. Standing there was Feliciano, who was wringing his hands and worrying his bottom lip. Beside him was a glaring German. 

Ludwig.

“You are late,” said Ludwig, in an authoritative tone of voice that reminded Lovino of a drill sergeant.

Before Lovino could sputter a protest, he was grabbed by the arm by Ludwig's massive paw of a hand and dragged into the room where the dinner would be held. 

“Such an irresponsible man. You are a grown adult and you need to act like one,” lectured Ludwig.

Lovino tried to tug back, but the grip was that of steel, “Hey! Who are you? My fucking mother?”

“No, but I am getting sick and tired of your attitude over this past year. I want this wedding to go off without a hitch,” said Ludwig, voice softening at the end when he looked over at Feliciano who was flailing his arms in panic.

“Well, it will. It isn't as if I'm that late. Only fifteen minutes,” said Lovino, still not managing to tug away his arm.

“Just do not be late for the wedding tomorrow Lovino,” huffed Ludwig.

They were in the middle of the room by then, all of his very close friends and family staring. Nobody was saying anything in his defence. Not his parents, grandfather or even Antonio. Damn! It isn't as if he did that sort of thing a lot. 

“What kind of person do you think I am?” Lovino muttered under his breath, pretty sure that nobody heard him. 

From the other end of the room and approaching fast came a voice. It was one of the most unique and yet annoying sounds he had ever heard. 

“Hey Luddy! Why don't you leave the poor kid alone huh?” said the man.

Lovino stared, his mouth slackening. The man was taller than he was, but not by much. Far shorter than Ludwig, he noticed since the two were standing side by side at that point. The man's hair was stark white as if it had already been light blonde and then bleached until there was no colour left. His eyes were a rare shade for an alpha, red, like the colour of a tomato. His skin was so pale that Lovino wondered if it would be cold if he touched it. 

When the scent drifted over, Lovino had to swallow back a gasp. It was so deep and wonderful that Lovino was nearly sent to his knees. He wasn't usually one for flowery displays of language, but he imagined that if the scent were visible, he'd see that the albino's aroma would find Lovino's own. From there the visible scents would twist and twine together into the air, tighter and tighter until there was no distinguishing one from another.

This man, whoever he was, was his true mate. The other half of his soul.

“Well, I've dealt with him already bruder. I have no more reason to lecture him further,” said Ludwig.

“Eh, it was barely any time at all that he'd been late by. You just need to get that stick out of your ass,” said Ludwig's brother. 

That must mean this man was the Gilbert that Feliciano had been talking about. 

It was then that Lovino noticed something strange. Gilbert, who was obviously an alpha, had hardly even looked over at him, let alone tried to claim him as his mate. But around Gilbert's neck was a necklace. It held a certain amulet that was generally recognized world-wide. Each amulet was circular and would have different pictures carved onto the fronts. This one had two birds of prey twining in air carved upon it. There were diamonds set into the eyes of the creatures. Words were etched around the whole of the jewellery. It was an amulet exchanged by true mates at a ceremony. There had been countless times that Feliciano had shown Lovino that one he'd commissioned to be made for Ludwig.

Lovino felt his heart sink and he couldn't stop himself from what he did next. He stormed over to the albino, one hand reaching out and grabbing the amulet in a rough grasp. He shook his fist before saying, "What the hell is this you bastard?"

The previous happy go lucky expression on the other man's face faded away and was replaced by a frigid look that made chills dance down Lovino's spine. Gilbert clamped his hand around Lovino's wrist like a vise and said, "Get your hand off of that."

"What? You have a mate or something who'll care who touches it?"

Lovino barely thought about what he was saying. He was upset at the idea that his true mate hadn't waited for him and had been mated before to somebody else. Angry that his mate wasn't reacting like an alpha was supposed to upon seeing their omega for the first time. That he hadn't come over to him and touched him. Snarled to everybody around that Lovino was his. That Gilbert hadn't even met his eyes.

Gilbert didn't answer, just flung away the wrist he was holding and left the room. It felt as if a wake of cold followed him and Lovino stared helplessly. 

Feliciano jogged up to Lovino and grabbed his arm, "I told you not to mention mates. You said you listened to me Lovino."

Ludwig was glaring. Lovino saw his family look over in obvious disappointment. He didn't need to take this. 

He followed Gilbert out instead and hoped to find out what was going on.

By the time he found his wayward mate, the man was outside of the building, leaning on the cool stone wall and smoking a cigarette. They were between the building and the back of the property which faced a deeply wooded area. From where they were, they had total privacy. Lovino sucked both of his lips into his mouth before letting them slide out and said, "What the hell is your problem?"

When Lovino stepped closer, Gilbert flung the butt of his smoke to the ground and stomped it out with the heel of his foot, "I wouldn't come any closer if I were you."

Maybe Lovino's mate smell was affecting Gilbert after all? Lovino sort of hoped so.

"Well I'll stay back if you tell me what the hell that necklace is all about," demanded Lovino, hands on his hips.

The cold glare in Gilbert's eyes frosted even more and one side of his mouth turned up in a snarl, "I'd think it would be obvious. Or are you stupid?"

What the hell?

"If it was so damn obvious, I wouldn't ask. How many people have a mating ceremony with somebody who isn't their true mate?" said Lovino, shrugging, "Not fucking many."

The last sentence got cut off at the end when Gilbert slammed Lovino against the wall and got right in his face. The face was twisted in his anger and his alpha teeth had descended. Normally those elongated canine teeth would have aroused Lovino. But then it made him shiver with fear.

Hating that he shivered, an instinctual action done by his omega side, he caustically snapped, "You are a fucking psycho?"

"Take it back."

"Take what back?"

"That she wasn't my true mate."

Despite the stone digging painfully into his back and the fingers digging deep into his shoulder, Lovino tilted his head and said, "Well she wasn't, whoever she is, because I'm your true mate."

Then Gilbert laughed, though it sounded more like an obnoxious cackle, before saying, "You? You aren't anything to me. Everybody knows you only ever get one in your entire life. Elizabeta was mine, and though she is dead I won't ever have another. Especially not some shivering coward who lies about being mine."

Lovino was ashamed to find that he was still shivering. Shit. What kind of pussy was he?

“Jerk-ass albino bastard,” said Lovino, snapping the words viciously.

He wanted to lift his hand and punch at the alpha who was holding him still, but the scent of the other man was overwhelming in spite of the cigarette Gilbert had just smoked. The deep and musky scent screamed at Lovino to submit, to not raise his hands against his dominant.

Gilbert's face was twisted into a snarl. Lovino tried to shrink back.

“Hey! What's going on here?” said somebody, a security guard for the area if his crappy uniform was anything to go by.

Gilbert shoved himself away, causing the stones from the building to dig even further into Lovino's back making the smaller man hiss. 

Lovino must have been still shaking and felt mildly dizzy. The security guard walked slowly up to them, hand at his side, likely on a pepper spray or something, “Is this man your alpha?”

Just as Lovino was about to instinctively nod yes, Gilbert said, “No. I'm not. This is nobody.”

Lovino shook off the embarrassing hand of pity the guard tried to put on his shoulder and pushed by. He stumbled as he ran, falling and getting dirt all over his good slacks, scraping the palms of his hands.

When he got to his car he all but threw himself inside, trembling hand missing the ignition with his key several times before it slid into place. Once the engine purred to life, Lovino sped out, hearing the tires squeal on the pavement. In the rear-view mirror he saw Feliciano run out of the building and out towards the road, waving his hands frantically.

Lovino didn't stop.

He didn't stop until he was at the other side of town and sitting in the parking lot of a regular and not too seedy hotel. It was one that he could afford but where he wouldn't be murdered in his sleep.

Lovino turned off his phone which had exploded with texts, all from various family members. Probably all wondering where he went and why he was such a disappointment to everybody. Why couldn't he do anything right?

Mechanically, Lovino paid for his room, thankful that he was good enough with his money to be able to do this. He went up to his room on the second floor, locked the door behind him and then flopped onto the bed face first. 

He didn't cry. He didn't even sob. He eventually simply flipped onto his back and spent the entire night staring at the yellowing and grime covered stucco of the ceiling above him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter, let it be known that I am aware that Spain as a nation is older than Prussia (or the Teutonic Knights as they were at the time). However for the purposes of this story, Gilbert is older than Antonio. I use the excuse of this being an AU.
> 
> Also, I will be updating every 5 days or so. I'm not very good at sticking to an exact schedule though, so it might be earlier or later. 
> 
> Once I get a few more chapters up, I will probably write a little guide to how this omega-verse works and how I've decided that the anatomy works. Whether or not it will make any sort of sense, I don't know.

Chapter Two

At some point, evening turned to day and Lovino dragged himself off of the bed. He hadn't slept a wink. His body felt tight and on edge, every muscle stiff. It hadn't helped that the bed had the most uncomfortable mattress ever created and the blankets were itchy.

He had to get up and go back to his apartment in hopes that he could just get ready quietly and go to the chapel where Feliciano was having his ceremony. If he was lucky, nobody would be at his apartment.

Lovino hadn't eaten since the previous day, but his stomach felt as if it would expel anything he tried to put into it, so he didn't bother finding food. He simply grabbed a black coffee from the closest cafe. It tasted like mud water but it woke him up and that was what mattered. 

He drove back home with his mind on auto-pilot, body numb and head feeling as if it were packed with cotton.

Lovino dragged himself out of the car and up the stairs that led to his apartment. Just as he was about to slid the keys into the keyhole, the door was flung open from the inside and a body flung itself out at him.

“Fratello where were you?” cried Feliciano.

When Lovino pulled his younger brother off of him, he noticed that Feliciano was wearing his white suit but his tie was crooked and he had missed a button when doing up his shirt.

“You're a damn mess so don't worry about me. Did you even do your hair?” said Lovino, changing the subject and dragging the other omega inside. 

They were halfway to the bathroom when Feliciano stopped walking with him.

“Where were you? You ran away right after you were so disrespectful to Gilbert,” said Feliciano, crossing his arms over his chest and giving a pout that was more comical than stern.

Lovino really did not want to talk about Gilbert. No. Having a clear mind was safer.

“I felt sick and I knew if I came here I'd have you worrying about me instead of your ceremony so I was at a hotel,” said Lovino, not even stopping to think about the lie that fell from his lips.

Feliciano bought it as the man bounced over to Lovino and placed a hand on his forehead, “Well you seem fine now. Good! Because I wouldn't want you to faint during the ceremony.”

“Great, thanks for caring.”

“Oh you know that wasn't what I meant fratello.”

“Whatever, let's get you ready.”

It wasn't until they were back in Lovino's car (Feliciano had apparently been given a ride to Lovino's place), that his brother had brought it up again.

“I think you should apologize to Gilbert. I know that you've never cared about social taboo before but it's really not okay to touch somebody else's mating amulet,” said Feliciano, fidgeting relentlessly in the passenger seat and pressing the button to roll up and down the window.

Lovino swatted his brother's shoulder and said, “Stop that it's annoying.”

“Will you?”

“No!” shouted Lovino just as he was forced to stop by a red light.

“His mate died you know.”

“I heard.”

Feliciano cocked his head, “From who?”

“Doesn't matter, I just did.”

“Oh.”

They waited a few more minutes, Lovino impatiently waiting for the damn light to turn before he said, “How'd his mate die?”

Feliciano shook his head, “It was horrible. She died when their house caught on fire. Gilbert ran in to save her. He didn't get to her because a part of the second floor fell on his head. He was dragged out by fire fighters. Ludwig told me that he'd been so worried when Gilbert wouldn't wake up until three days passes.

Lovino tightened his fists on the steering wheel. Gilbert may have been an asshole to him, but that was still his mate and his protective instincts tried to flare. 

Feliciano continued, “When he woke up, his memories were fine, but his senses were dulled. His smell is almost entirely gone. The vision in his right eye is blurry. I hope I never lose Ludwig.”

Lovino turned into the chapel parking lot. 

Gilbert's sense of smell was almost gone? That explained part of why he couldn't smell Lovino. But there was more to sensing a mate than that. However Lovino didn't really know much about those. The scent thing was known by everybody, even toddlers. The other senses and whatever didn't make sense to Lovino; mostly because he didn't pay attention in any of the biology lessons in science class when he was in school. So sue him, school was fucking boring.

As soon as he set the car into park, he saw Antonio come out of the chapel. Behind him, of course, was Laura. The couple was going to help Feliciano with his hair and making sure that everything was going according to plan.

“Hola amigos! Hey Feli, why don't you go with Laura. I need to talk to your brother for a second. Okay?” said Antonio, draping an arm around Lovino's shoulder.

That touch would have sent Lovino's face aflame just mere days ago. Would have made him fidget and struggle not to grow hard. He'd lash out physically at the man he could never have and yell at him.

Now though? Nothing.

Absolutely no reaction but a cool face and an irritated look shot the way of the Spaniard.

Antonio led them towards the edge of the church property and kept his arm in place, as if Lovino would run away from his oldest friend. But annoyingly enough, the older man said nothing.

Finally, Lovino said, “What? What the hell is it? Tell me why I am not in the basement of the church with my fucking brother.”

“I met Gilbert when I went to college overseas you know?”

“Okay, and I care why?”

Antonio ruffled Lovino's hair much to the younger's chagrin, “Just listen.”

“As I was saying. I met him in college. He was a guest speaker or something in one of the engineering type classes. We met in the cafeteria when he was trying to find some good food. I shared my lunch with him and we hit it off as friends.”

“Again, why does this matter?” said Lovino, grinding his teeth and getting really annoyed.

He was trying to forget about the dumb ass Gilbert and try not think about him more than he had to.

“Because he's a good guy. I know you have an attitude and that most of the time you don't mean the things that you say. But what you did was really rude and I think that you should tell him that you're sorry.”

Was the whole world against him?

Maybe Antonio had a point though. Gilbert had lost his mate, and Lovino had been sort of brash with him. Even though Lovino was an omega, he wasn't used to telling people that he was sorry. But in this case he wondered if he should. 

“Fine. Maybe I will,” mumbled Lovino, getting immediately crushed in Antonio's embrace. 

“You're a good guy Lovino.”

“Yeah, yeah. Now get off me idiot.”

That conversation with Antonio eventually led to Lovino standing outside of the potato-bastard's changing room. Antonio was inside and had said that he was going to coax Gilbert out so that he and Lovino could talk. 

Lovino felt himself shake again. What the hell was it with that man and somehow making Lovino tremble like he was a leaf in a windstorm? He debated on whether he should just leave or something. It wasn't as if he or Gilbert would make a scene. So why did he have to do this now? Couldn't he do it some other time?

The decision was taken out of his hands when Antonio and Gilbert came out of the room. The albino's obnoxious laughter filled the hallway was the door opened. Antonio was behind Gilbert, so he wasn't able to see the frigid glare that the other man sent Lovino. Gilbert's face broke out in a smile very shortly after and Antonio seemed none the wiser. The effect was enough that Lovino shrunk back.

“Come on you two, I've saved an empty room for you two to make up. I think that you'll get along really well if you just try,” said Antonio, leading the way.

Gilbert chuckled, “Sure thing Toni. But I can't be long. Little Luddy needs the strong presence of his awesome big bro'”

By then they'd arrived into a small room and Gilbert entered it. Just as Lovino turned and tried to plead with Antonio with his eyes, the Spanish bastard lightly shoved him inside and shut the door in his face.

From behind in, further in the room, Gilbert said, “So did you tell him that you have some stupid idea that you and I are mates?”

“No, I-”

“So why does he think we'll “get along” in that case?”

“I just-”

Gilbert's smell was intoxicating. Lovino wanted to go up to him and rub himself all over it, drown himself in the wonderful scent. He felt only just barely in control of his actions and clenched his fists so tight that his nails dug into his skin painfully. He could hardly think.

“You what? Oh I know! Is this all for the money?”

Lovino snapped his brown eyes to stare incredulously at Gilbert who was sneering.

“What money?”

“As if you don't know. That's why you invented this story about being my mate. You knew that Elizabeta was wealthy and I was her only beneficiary when she died.”

“No that's not it,” said Lovino, getting louder and more irritated. This was getting too outrageous and he wasn't about to let this bastard accuse him of such things.

But Gilbert wasn't done, “You don't have any real talent for yourself. Ludwig told me that you still work for your grandfather and haven't even tried to go to school. So you want to find somebody to mooch from?”

“Fuck you!” he screamed, closing his eyes tight, “I just wanted to say sorry for touching your damn stupid amulet. I don't want anything to do with you anymore you fucking asshole!”

And he stormed out, right by Antonio who just looked confused and slightly tired as if he'd been napping against the wall. He went right to Feliciano's room. 

While at the door, Lovino wiped away the couple of tears that had managed to escape. Then, while hardening his expression, in went inside the dressing room to be a good older brother for Feliciano. Or try to at the very least.

#

Later that night, even Lovino had to admit that the ceremony had been beautiful. White tulle had been draped along the sides of the sanctuary with the occasional white rose. Silver candles had been placed strategically and cast the the entire room in a romantic glow. Small bundles of white hydrangea were attached to the aisle side of each pew, silver ribbons cascaded down to the floor.

The potato-bastard wore a black suit, with the amulet he intended to give Feliciano around his neck. Feliciano had worn a pure white suit with his amulet for Ludwig.

The only downside had been Lovino's entire family breaking down into dramatic tears during the ceremony. Grandpa Roma had wept the loudest. It was fucking embarrassing. Couldn't they have toned it down even just a bit.

Ludwig's entire side of the church had been giving Feli's side odd looks. Lovino didn't really blame them.

Though their vows had been nice, even if Lovino would never admit it. Even though Gilbert was an asshole, Ludwig, at least, seemed to love Feliciano. Not that the German wasn't still a potato-loving-bastard. 

And so, with the end of the ceremony, came the reception. It was quite the affair, with wonderful foods that, quite frankly, made Lovino almost drool with anticipation. He was able to focus on his food because Gilbert wasn't sitting anywhere near him and Lovino was making a point of not looking towards the alpha; he had to quash down every submissive urge to go over to his mate.

After the dinner was dancing. It may not have been an open bar, but the drinks were still dirt cheap. People began to get drunk really fast. Even Lovino, who normally avoided indulging too much in the drink, found himself staring at a slightly blurred dance hall. Alcohol was, in Lovino's opinion, currently the best way for him to forget the shitty mate situation he was in. Lights shone down upon the area as if they were in a club and the music was pounding.

At one point, Antonio parted from his mate and came over to dance with Lovino. Laura was really a great mate for Antonio and never got jealous when it came to Lovino. She knew that Lovino would never come between two true mates. Lovino had told her as much one time when the couple had first mated.

This left Lovino and Antonio free to drunkenly dance together since Laura wasn't really a fan of dancing. They got close, though they weren't quite grinding together, they were nearly as close as some of the couples. It was how they liked to dance, and they were good at it too.

Lovino had more to drink and Antonio eventually parted to go back to his lovely mate and keep her company.

So Lovino decided to dance by himself, but was hot, so he went outside into the cool air where nobody was around but he could still hear the music. He threw back his head, closing his eyes and letting himself move to the rhythm.

When he felt somebody move behind him and hold onto his hips, he thought of one one person who would do that willingly, “'Tonio? Weren't you goin' back to Laura? She's gonna miss ya'”

He felt warm breath on his neck and then his ear warm and intoxicating. As soon as he took a deep smell in, he knew it wasn't Antonio. At that moment, he was too drunk to care about the cruel words Gilbert had said previously.

“Thought you said you were my mate?” said Gilbert, his voice not hard as it had usually been, but dripping with seduction.

“I am,” said Lovino, too drunk to think of anything else to say, so he halfheartedly added a, “Bastard,” to the end of the sentence after a few seconds.

“Then why were you dancing like that with 'Toni? Hmmm?” asked Gilbert. 

When Lovino turned he smelled the beer on the German's breath and saw the glazed look in his red eyes. God, Gilbert was staring at him hard. Lovino jumped when he felt a hand run down his arm.

“I can do whatever I want you jerk-face,” said Lovino in defence even though he was inching closer to the ungracefully swaying body of Gilbert.

“Why don't I show you who you belong to then?” rasped Gilbert, motioning for Lovino to follow and wandering from the room.

By some miracle, as drunk as they were, they managed to call a cab and get out unnoticed, probably because everybody else was still partying away the night. They went to Lovino's place, the keys taking forever to get in. He noticed Gilbert wasn't speaking much.

As soon as they got inside, Gilbert pinned Lovino to the door. Every inch of the alpha's body covered Lovino grinding their hips together. He heard deep inhales through Gilbert's nose as if he were trying desperately to smell something. 

“Bedroom,” said Gilbert, pulling back just enough from Lovino to snarl the words. 

Lovino led the way, mind still hazy from all of the alcohol he'd had. As soon as they reached the room, they stumbled passed the clothing strewn on the floor, the random books and magazines and fell to the bed in a heap. 

Their lips crashed together in a rough kiss, which Gilbert dominated in every way. Lovino groaned into the kiss and let his alpha have him. Both of their cocks were hard by then, rubbing together through the fabric of their pants. The friction was bliss to Lovino, who had previously only ever felt the touch of his own hand. 

Grabbing onto the fabric of Gilbert's shirt, Lovino tugged on it, trying to get his mate closer even though they were already almost as close as they could possibly be without one being inside of the other. 

Pulling back, Gilbert tore off his own shirt and ripped off Lovino's. The omega didn't bother to rip the alpha a new one over ruining an expensive button-up, in fact he hardly even noticed. Lovino also didn't pay much attention to Gilbert removing his own mating amulet with the shirt and fling them both across the room. Didn't notice them land behind the laundry hamper, out of sight.

What he did notice was Gilbert's mouth attacking his light brown nipples which had begun to harden.

Lovino squirmed beneath Gilbert, clutching the sheets under him. The nipples of an omega were notoriously sensitive, sending ripples of pleasure down Lovino's spine, causing his hips to raise up off of the mattress. 

“Oh Gilbert. Please dammit!” cried Lovino, not one to be quiet either in everyday life or apparently even in bed. 

Gilbert leaned up on both of his hands and stared down with his dazed red eyes that were slightly glow from the alpha's arousal. Slowly the glow faded and with it the haziness from the alcohol. His lips thinned and Gilbert leaned down to face the wide eyed Lovino.

Lovino's drunkenness was also starting to fade in the wake of what they had begun to do and he wanted nothing more than to escape that asshole that fate had paired him with.

“What did I tell you about staying away? What did you do to lure me here?” said Gilbert, in a tone that sounded pleasant if you couldn't see the vicious look on the alpha's face. 

“Nothing. You asked to come here,” said Lovino, hands on Gilbert's chest but with the intent to push him away this time instead of tugging him closer. 

“Bullshit and what's more-” started Gilbert, pausing when he pawed at his neck to find his amulet gone.

Suddenly his hand was on Lovino's neck, “Where is it?”

The hand was so tight that Lovino couldn't get a word out, he simply gaped his mouth uselessly for air.

“Tell me! Point it out,” yelled Gilbert, pulling his free hand back to slap at Lovino's face, no doubt leaving a huge red mark to go with the sharp sting of pain it dealt.

“Where?” Slap, “Is,” Slap, “It?”

When black spots danced at the edges of Lovino's vision, Gilbert finally let him go and began to ravage the room. Lovino was gasping for air too desperately to care. He curled on his side and reached for his blanket on the other side of the bed that had slid off in their previous passionate fervour. He tugged it over himself and whimpered.

He'd heard a story every now and again of omegas being abused by alphas who weren't in their right state of mind. But he thought that if he ever finally got a mate that his alpha wouldn't be like that.

Though he'd grumbled whenever other people found their mates before him, and was frustrated at the whole concept, Lovino had always wanted one.

And now – here he was, hiding under the covers of his bed like a coward from the mate he'd been given.

Eventually the noises around the room stopped and Lovino heard a sigh of relief. Then Lovino heard a strangled sob and the name, “Liz.”

Soon after, he heard footsteps head out of his room and then the front door slam shut.

Lovino didn't leave his bed for two whole days.

#

“Where were you, ungrateful boy?” said Roma Vargas as soon as Lovino stepped foot into the grocery store some three days after Feliciano's ceremony.

Lovino hadn't pried himself out of bed until the previous day. When he'd taken a look in the mirror, he'd seen faint marks on his neck from where Gilbert had choked him. There was no way that he wanted anybody to see that, so he'd stayed home another day.

“I was at home. Nobody was stopping you from coming over,” said Lovino, not even looking over at his grandfather.

“Well I would have if I hadn't been so busy here doing all the work by myself,” said Roma, “I only managed because I convinced your mother to take time off of work on her own business and come here and help.”

“Doing all the work? Like what I'm usually doing?” said Lovino as he snapped on some plastic gloves and began to wash some vegetables so that he could cut them up into salads.

“Don't get smart with me. Where were you?” said Roma, the question at the end sounding slightly less hostile.

“None of your business,” said Lovino, not raising his voice despite his harsh words.

He started to slice up a cucumber. Roma huffed but didn't say anything else about why Lovino was gone. He just rolled his eyes and said, “Anyway, I hired a new stock boy. So focus on the register and cooking.”

At least something had gone right for once in the shit storm that was Lovino's life. 

#

Regardless of how Lovino acted, he did love his job and working in the store. So to make up for all of the days he'd missed, he worked overtime. He supposed that he had other reasons to swamp himself with work. Such as being too tired to remember about the alpha who hated him.

Feliciano and Ludwig had come back from their honeymoon in good spirits a week and a half after the ceremony. Feliciano dragged Lovino over to his house and showed him endless amounts of photos. No amount of swearing or death threats would stop the younger omega from going on and on about the vacation in Italy.

Of course, deep down, Lovino didn't mind very much. Especially when Feliciano showed Lovino that pair of authentic Italian loafers he'd bought for him. That had done much to get back into his good graces. 

When Feliciano went to use the bathroom at one point, Lovino was left alone with the potato-bastard. Ludwig was in an armchair across the room and was reading a novel that was in German. Lovino really wanted to asked how Gilbert was. 

He wanted to so badly that he had to turn and face the wall, biting the inside of his cheeks so hard that the metallic taste of blood seeped into his mouth.

Really though, why should he care? Gilbert was a prick and a jerk and if he really cared, the alpha wouldn't have left that night. Hell, the guy wouldn't have hurt him to begin with.

So Lovino said nothing. Kept his mouth shut. 

Who needed a mate anyway?

#

It was about a month after meeting Gilbert for the first time. Nothing had seemed amiss to begin with.

Lovino just had a sudden urge to gather the pillows and blankets in the house in one place. He didn't think much of it, just put some jazz music and began to collect the objects he sought. After all, Lovino had been getting very used to pushing all thoughts away and keeping his mind as blank as possible.

His closet was full of clothes and shoes, so he found it easier to clear a spot in the corner of his bedroom to place his pillows and blankets. First was a couple layers of blankets, then a wall of pillows and blankets. He made sure to leave some cushions for the inside of the nest-

Shit! A nest?

Oh fuck.

Lovino let the last pillow drop from his hand and fall onto the wall of the nest, tumbling inside. His hands shook and he felt his eyes widen. 

This was not good. Not good at all.

He'd kept what happened between him and Gilbert to himself. Not a soul knew that Gilbert was his true mate. Nobody even knew that Lovino had even found one.

But they'd know if he went into heat.

Anybody had the chance to conceive around four times a year, a new cycle each season. The cycles were hardly noticeable from the outside. Not nearly as severe as going into heat. Omegas were the most fertile, followed by betas and then alphas, women being more fertile in each category than their male counterparts. However until a person's true mate was found the rates of fertility were rather low. When a true mate was found, the pheromones emitted would start the heat cycle of omegas. That was supposed to be nature's way of keeping population from exploding out of control.

Lovino knew most of this, since every school child was tested on their basic knowledge on the subject. However he had been trying so hard to forget that he hadn't considered the fact that he'd go into heat.

Doctors and various medical scientists had figured out ways to increase fertility rate of unmated peoples, betas and alphas. They'd come up with birth controls to stop ovulation completely. So surely they had figured out a way to stop heats from happening, right?

Lovino found that while he was so deep in thought that he hadn't realized that he'd gone into the nest and was laying down. He sighed.

But going to a doctor and admitting that his mate didn't want him enough to be there to help him through his heat was fucking embarrassing.

No, he couldn't tell anybody.

He had to do this on his own.

How hard could enduring a heat by himself really be?

With that in mind, Lovino gathered up some various snacks and placed them just outside of his nest. He placed a few bottles of water inside of it to be easy to grab. He also brought over some earplugs so that he didn't have to hear if people banged on his front door. 

He remembered that Feliciano had complained a lot about his own first heat. Feliciano had mentioned having lots of cloths and towels around because things tended to get messy.

So Lovino decided to do what Feliciano had told him. It wasn't as if his brother would ever find out anyway.

Since he worked the next day he would have to call in sick. But Lovino couldn't do it until the last minute so that nobody had the chance to come over and find out what was really going on.

Lovino cooked a meal of linguine carbonara with a side of tomato salad. He poured a large glass of wine and ate his food in front of the television since there was nobody around to be classy for. He knew that it would be at least a few days or so until he was back to normal. That was at least how long other omegas said their heats lasted for. So Lovino wanted to have a good meal now when he'd have a few days of living off of snacks. 

When he went to bed that night, his face was heating up as if he was just beginning to get a fever. It wasn't comfortable but he knew that he needed as much sleep as possible. He slept in his bed for one last bit of comfort and drifted off.

It wouldn't be so bad.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll start off by saying a big HUGE thank you to everybody who has commented, fave'd, bookmarked, kudo'd or just read this. I honestly didn't expect such love for this, so thank you. I'm touched.  
> Next I'd like to say that if you have any questions as to how this universe works, feel free to hit me up. I'm trying not to do too much information overload, but still writing things in a way that makes sense. I'm more than willing to try to explain (or pull an explanation out of my ass if I hadn't thought of your question). :3

Chapter Three

It was still black as pitch in his room when Lovino woke up panting. His face felt like it was aflame. Though Lovino wouldn't have cared so much if it were only that. 

No.

Everybody mentioned the urge to mate. But not one single teacher, parent or even fucking Feliciano had mentioned just how strong that 'urge' was. It hit Lovino suddenly and in a hard wave, jolting his hips off of the bed. His entire body trembled uncontrollably and he clutched the sheets under him.

Each and every instinct in his body told him to get to his nest. The nest was safety, the nest was where his mate would find him and expect him to be.

Lovino crawled to the edge and eased his body off. Standing was hard work when his body wanted to be on it's knees in position to mate. He had only the frame of mind to bring his phone with him.

Carefully he stepped over the walls of the nest, glad that he didn't have to fix any of the blankets or cushions. Then Lovino stripped off his boxers, which were soaked with slick and sweat. He threw them out of the nest and towards his laundry hamper.

Probably. Who knew where they actually landed? 

Lovino didn't because by that time he was naked, on his knees and his ass in the air, presenting himself. 

At first, for perhaps an hour or so, he kept relativity quiet. He didn't want to be so damn pathetic that he whimpered but it was so hard. Oh god it was so hard.

Yet a whimper still escaped him, small and bit off at the end as if Lovino was trying to take it back. Then he spread his knees and whined. The clear slick dripping down the back of his leg.

By the time the morning light trickled through the slats of the window blinds, Lovino was whimpering constantly. It was two hours until his shift at the store but he was in no position to call anybody, they'd know something was up right away. Even when he was sick, Lovino tried his hardest not to show it. He didn't want people to see how weak he was. 

Slowly and surely, he dragged over his phone that was sitting along the edge of the next and brought up Feliciano's number. Lovino would have contacted his Grandfather but the old man refused to own a cell phone.

Lovino texted: Tell the old man that I'm taking my vacation time. I'll be gone for a week.

It took him nearly a half hour to poke out those few words. He hit send before he did something to accidentally erase what he'd worked hard to type. 

He decided to give himself a week to recover. That ought to be enough.

Lovino hadn't bothered to check his phone after that. He just shut it off. Then he jammed in the ear plugs he'd placed there and he waited for the discomfort to go away.

#

Except that nothing got better. After hours on the first day, Lovino had tried to ease the ache with his own fingers only to achieve not even a single bit of satisfaction. He was sure that even having a plastic toy wouldn't have helped (as mortifying as buying something like that would have been). 

He wanted something real. He wanted his mate but he wasn't there with him. His body ached for the one person who could make this stop.

#

After four days his stash of water and snacks had long since run out. His body was using so much fluid to produce the slick that he was dehydrating faster than he'd planned for. His mouth was dry as if it were an arid desert and felt too thick. His stomach ached terribly. Yet he could hardly move, he couldn't even stand lest he fall to his knees.

He'd only managed to clear his mind long enough in the haze of need and desperation in order to realize that he needed to leave to eat and drink. His instincts cried out for him to stay. His omega mind whispered that his alpha would provide what he needed and that he just needed to wait. He needed to trust that his alpha would bring food and water.

That was why his heat had come right? Because he'd met his mate? Right?

Lovino didn't remember. He was delirious from the heat and the hunger, only having had the sparse and seemingly inadequate snacks that he'd stocked for himself.

Every muscle in his body ached and felt rubbery. He could hardly move from being on his knees for three days straight. He had to crawl out of his nest, knocking down the blankets.

There was no energy in his body from the severe lack of sleep. His body kept fighting between sleep, seeking nourishment and getting into mating position.

After a hour of dragging himself, he got into the kitchen. Then, just as he was so close to the refrigerator, his felt his eyes roll to the back of his head and he collapsed in a heap on the cold tile of his kitchen floor.

#

Noises. The crack of wood and the slam of something.

A door?

Lovino couldn't open his eyes and but just barely managed to lift his hips to present. At least he thought that he did. 

He heard a gasp that sounded suspiciously like Feliciano before he blacked out again.

#

There were hands on him that weren't family or his mate.

Where was his mate? Lovino didn't know. His body hurt so much but he couldn't lift a finger to do anything. He simply mouthed soundless words and hoped for the best.

Lights flashed.

Movement.

So tired. Can't sleep. Need to mate.

Need to-

And he passed out once more.

#

When Lovino came to once more, he was on something uncomfortable as hell. His eyes were closed and felt as if they'd been crusted shut. The lights beyond his eyelids were too bright though and he didn't want to open his eyes even if he could.

He opened his mouth and tried to speak but no words came out. He just made raspy whispers.

So he tried to lift his hand and he managed to twitch a few fingers. There was something weird attached to his arm, until he opened his eyes though, he had no way of guessing what it could be.

“Oh my God. Ludwig? He's awake!” said Feliciano in a way too loud tone of voice.

Lovino wanted to say that his brother was being too damned loud but still couldn't. He needed a lot of things dammit. 

“Why isn't he opening his eyes?” whined Feliciano, pawing his hands all over Lovino's body.

Oh boy that wasn't going to happen again if Lovino could do anything about it. He wanted to smack his sibling upside the head and tell Feli to stop touching him.

“Perhaps the lights are too bright. Here, I will dim them,” said Ludwig, who did just that.

For the first time, Lovino was thankful for that potato-bastard. The lights stopped their intense assault on Lovino's senses so he cracked his lids, just enough to look around at where he was. 

He was in a room with dull grey walls and no windows. Everywhere he could see was covered in some kind of medical equipment or supplies. Ludwig was standing near the door, looking vaguely uncomfortable and tired. 

Feliciano looked worse. He had dark circles under his eyes and a frown marring his normally smiling face. His hands stopped their pawing and stayed on Lovino's upper arm. Lovino looked down at saw that his lower arm had an IV hooked into it, so that was the weird thing that was attached to him. Various bags were on the IV stand, dripping their contents into Lovino.

“Fratello-” started Feliciano before choking and bursting into tears.

Ludwig came behind Feliciano and put a comforting arm around the much smaller man.

“I will go get some water for your brother to drink as well as fetch the doctor,” said Ludwig before kissing Feliciano's temple and walking out of the room.

Lovino frowned. What the hell had happened? He could barely remember anything except pain, longing, need and-

Heat.

He'd gone into heat.

Lovino glared down at the thin cotton hospital blanket draped over him.

For once, Feliciano didn't say anything. He just kept his hand in place and gave a firm squeeze.

Ludwig came back, an older man following him. The man, Lovino could tell, had the scent of an omega. He had slightly curly hair that went down to his ears. One wayward curl jutted out in front. Perhaps when he was younger, his hair may have been blond but now it was silver from age. His eyes were a soft and kind violet, a rare colour for an omega. As he came closer, Lovino read that the name-tag said, 'Dr. Williams'.

Ludwig went over with a large plastic cup that made sloshing and clinking noises from ice cubes in water. The German looked down at the cup and tried to aim the straw to Lovino's mouth. Lovino tried to give the best scathing look he could manage. No way was he letting the potato-bastard baby him.

Feliciano took the cup and positioned the straw once more. This time Lovino drank. He'd rather do this himself but his tongue felt like sandpaper and he really needed that water. Feli was better than Ludwig any day.

It took a couple of tries, but Lovino was finally able to drag back the cool liquid into his parched mouth. 

It was so blissful that it took every effort not to moan.

The doctor, who had been busy checking various machines and paper printouts, came back over to Lovino's bedside.

“Hello Mr. Vargas. My name is Dr. Williams,” said the doctor in a soft voice. 

“Yes I can see that,” said Lovino in a raspy voice

Smiling kindly, the doctor flipped open a folder than he had in his hands. He took a pen from the front pocket of his white jacket and cleared his throat, “Well then, may I ask you a few questions if you feel up to talking?”

Lovino looked away and puffed out his cheeks. He really didn't' want to. He scowled over at Feliciano when his brother poked him in the ribs, “Lovinooooo. Please answer his questions.”

“Fine, but the macho potato has to go.”

Not appearing offended, though who could ever tell with Ludwig's mostly expressionless face, the German left the room, closing the door with a soft snick behind him.

“Now then. An analysis of your blood has indicated that you have come into contact with your mate, which is why you entered your heat cycle”

Lovino interrupted, “Isn't that always why heat happens?”

The aging doctor shook his head, “Usually, yes. However a few anomalies have been reported to enter heat without ever encountering a mate. It is rare however. Smelling your mate's pheromones begin changes in your body that can be found in the makeup of your blood.”

“Oh,” said Lovino, because he didn't know what else to say.

“What day did your heat begin?”

Lovino answered with a low voice. The soft spoken doctor heard him anyway and jotted down the information. Dr. Williams asked a few more questions about how Lovino prepared for the heat (if he did at all), and what symptoms he felt as the heat progressed. 

It embarrassed Lovino to no end. Seriously? Explaining this to the doctor was bullshit but he knew that he probably had to, especially with Feliciano poking his side every time he tried to hesitate.

Then the dreaded question came. The one that Lovino knew would be coming but really didn't want to answer – more so than any of the others.

“Now for a question of a slightly different nature; where is your alpha?” asked the doctor, staring at his papers, his face reddening as if he didn't want to be asking that question.

Lovino also turned red and grit his teeth together before yelling, “None of your business dammit!”

He regretted the outburst immediately when it hurt his already aching throat. Feli brought the cup over to him again to drink.

“Sir, I understand that this topic may be sensitive. However it is procedure and the answer is very important to how we will proceed with treatment.”

Lovino swallowed against a lump that felt like it was forming in his throat and whispered, “He doesn't want me.”

“Where is he? I am sure that you know that the abandonment of an omega true mate is illegal.”

Lovino shrugged, “I don't know where he is okay.”

The doctor stared at him for a good five minutes, Lovino met his eyes for some of it but eventually looked away. It wasn't as though Lovino was lying; he really didn't have any idea where Gilbert was. He just didn't want to accidentally say the bastard's name.

Sure he hated Gilbert right then for not believing him about being mates and for treating him like garbage but if there was one thing that somebody could say about Lovino Vargas, it was that he was loyal. 

“So you do not expect to have your alpha return at any point in the near future?” asked Dr. Williams with a resigned sigh.

“No but who the hell knows.”

“Very well. We have you currently on a medication that will try keep your heat on a more normal schedule. Without an alpha to subdue your heat naturally, this medication will have to suffice. However we will be unable to stop the cycle completely. Not for the heat of an omega who has found their true mate and not had intercourse with his or her alpha at least once.”

Lovino looked at his lap and sarcastically said, “Great.”

#

Due to how infrequently omegas met their mate and yet were abandoned, Lovino was required to be under the watch of a guardian. Dr. Williams had told him that the medication wasn't guaranteed to work one hundred percent of the time since the hormones from the heat of an unclaimed omega were very strong. So he wasn't allowed to even live alone. It was like he was a child.

He was also going to be required to go to regular doctor's appointments to make sure that his health didn't decline. Being without one's mate was known to do that.

It turned out that the only one who questioned Lovino's sudden absence from the store had been Feliciano. The rest of the family simply thought that Lovino had been too lazy to go to work. It didn't matter that Lovino worked his ass off for that stupid store.

Feli had become worried about the lack of responses to his texts and calls and had begged Ludwig to break into Lovino's apartment. By that time Lovino had been passed out on the floor of the kitchen.

As soon as living arrangements were brought up, Feliciano decided to let (read: force) Lovino to live with him. There was a couple of spare bedrooms in their home and Lovino was given the one that didn't already have a binder full of plans dedicated to it's future as a nursery.

With the help of friends and the family that cared, Lovino's place was boxed up in no time. He brought to Feliciano's only what was required and divided the rest of the stuff between Feliciano's basement and Antonio's for storage. 

It wasn't as if he could have paid for storage somewhere else, since he couldn't work more than part time anyway. At least he couldn't afford to pay for any decent storage. He didn't want to put his stuff in a place where all of his stuff would get infested with roaches or mice. 

On his first night in his brother's home, Lovino laid down on the bed. It was a decently comfortable piece of furniture since Ludwig had a good job and could afford to furnish his guestrooms with expensive things (even if they were rather plain looking and practical). 

Feliciano knocked on the door and opened it with his other hand at the same time.

“Why even bother knocking then?” muttered Lovino, rolling to his side so that he could see his brother better.

Feliciano didn't even bother to look sheepish when he said, “Sorry. I brought you up some cake. Ludwig made it.”

“So he bakes at home then too does he?” said Lovino, flopping to face the wall and away from the perfectly frosted whipped cream, giant slice of chocolate cake that Feliciano was carrying. 

“Yep. It's black forest. It's even got some yummy cherries on it.”

“Isn't that the point of that kind of cake. Not that I know anything about stupid German desserts,” grumbled Lovino.

He tried to resist but when Feliciano reached over and waved the plate of that delicious baked perfection near his nose, Lovino sat up, “Fine. I'll eat your mate's dumb cake if it'll make you happy.”

Feliciano clapped his hands and said, “I'm sure you can manage.”

Lovino grabbed it and took a few bites, tentatively at first, but then began to gobble it up. Damn it was so good. He supposed that was why the German owned a highly successful bakery though.

Feliciano sat beside Lovino and stared. Lovino tried his best to ignore the smaller omega by focusing on the food in front of him. But before long the plate was clear and Lovino no longer had a distraction.

“What is it damn you?”

Taking the plate away from him and setting it on the side table, Feliciano flung himself into Lovino's arms.

“I'm so sorry at this happened fratello,” said Feliciano, sobbing into his elder sibling's tank top covered chest.

Lovino responded with a nonchalant sounding, “Whatever.”

But he wrapped his arms tight around Feliciano in a hug. He tried not to cry but felt a few tears run down his cheeks anyway.

That night he and Feli slept in the same bed, like they had when they were just kids. Secretly, Lovino was glad that he didn't have to be entirely alone. Even though the one person who was supposed to matter wasn't there at all.

#

“So how was your last heat?” asked Dr. Williams, leaning on his elbows at his large mahogany desk.

The doctor from the hospital took on his case. It turns out that he was a specialist on omegas who didn't have mates or who had unique mates. Lovino had no idea what the hell it meant, 'unique mates', but didn't care enough to ask.

He hated being there. Lovino didn't even plan on going either. He'd tried to refuse but Feliciano had threatened to never buy another pasta product ever if Lovino didn't attend his appointment.

Lovino felt like Feliciano was bluffing. No way would his little brother go without his favourite food. But Lovino didn't want to take that chance. Feli could be irritatingly stubborn when he put his mind to it and Lovino loved pasta almost as much. The only thing he loved more was tomatoes from Antonio's garden.

“It sucked,” said Lovino, slumping down in his seat and crossing his arms over his chest.

“I understand that, but can you please give some details?” said Williams.

“No.”

“I can wait. But I can't, in good conscience, let you leave without knowing how the treatment is working,” said the doctor, leaning back in his chair and grabbing a mug, from which he took a drink.

“Bastard,” sniped Lovino but didn't get more then a rise of the doctor's brows. 

And so they sat. There was nothing to do in the office other than a few health magazines to flip through. The doctor kept watching Lovino.

After about fifteen minutes of this, the door behind them swung open and somebody with an obnoxiously loud voice came into the room, “Hey Mattie it was quiet in here so I figured you're done for the – oh hey you're still here.”

A man who looked surprisingly similar to the doctor came waltzing in. The man appeared to be close in age to the doctor, silver hair gleaming in the sunlight that streamed into through the open window. His face looked the exact same as the doctor. It was creepy. Their hair was in a different style, this newcomer having his hair cut a bit shorter than Dr. Williams.

“Alfred! How many times have I told you not to come in here when I'm working?” said the doctor in his oh-so-soft voice.

The doctor, 'Mattie', stood up and crossed the room to 'Alfred'. The sweet looking doctor grabbed the other man by the ear and tugged him towards the door.

“Hey! Ow! Is this any way to treat your alpha? Ouch! I thought you were done for the daaay,” said Alfred, scrunching up his face that was surprisingly smooth and relatively wrinkle free for an older gentleman.

“Well I'm not. Come back later,” and with a single shove, the doctor banished the other man and shut the door.

Dr. Williams sighed and ran a hand through his curly hair, “I apologize for him. The disadvantage to running my practice from the second floor of my home is that he has a hard time understanding boundaries and basic requests.”

“He's your alpha?” asked Lovino, feeling his eyes widen.

“Yes,” said Dr. Williams, sitting back down at his desk.

“But you and that guy could be twins,” said Lovino, being well aware that he wasn't being very tactful and not really caring.

Dr. Williams nodded and smiled every so slightly, “We are in fact. Fated twins.”

“Oh. But isn't that illegal?” asked Lovino, the irritation from his voice draining out with the shock of being in the presence of such a person.

'Fated twins' – that was the term for twin siblings who were true mates.

“Incest is illegal yes. Even fated twins were illegal until only just a couple decades ago, when advances in medicine proved with blood tests that couples such as us, were indeed, mates,” said Dr. Williams, still soft spoken but looking up with a firmness in his eyes, “I understand that many people still do not understand or approval of fated twins. So if you would like me to send you to another physician, I know of a colleague of mine who is taking patients.”

Lovino stared at the carpet of the rather homey and comfortable office. He didn't quite know what to think. On one hand, even the idea of doing something sexual with his brother, Feliciano, made his dick feel like inverting. It really grossed him out. The idea of incest wasn't something he approved of.

Yet he understood the deep down, instinctual draw one felt to their own mate, even when one of them was a German bastard. He supposed that Dr. Williams had as much choice in his own mate as Lovino had.

And to be honest, Lovino felt as if he could be a bit more open with the doctor after finding that out. At least he wasn't the only one whose mating wasn't completely normal.

“No it's fine, whatever. I don't want to have to get used to a new bastard doctor anyway. So what the hell did you want to know?”

Dr. Williams smiled wider and then asked once more, “I asked for details on your last heat.”

“It hit me more suddenly than it had before. I barely had enough time to make a nest.”

The doctor took notes, “And how were the aches and pains?”

“They didn't go away even with the damn pain pills Feli shoved at me. The stupid-” Lovino paused mid-speech to make a rolling gesture with his hand, “-thing hardly worked either, though I guess it made things a bit better than last time.”

“The thing?” asked the doctor, looking at Lovino quizzically.

Lovino flushed and grumbled, “The dildo alright? Feliciano forced me to buy one before my heat was due to start. It was embarrassing as fuck and they hardly worked at all to make the need go away.”

“Mmm hmm, Mmm Hmm, Mmm Hmm. Now did you try having another, trusted alpha in the room with you?”

Lovino gripped the arms of the chair, “No. Why the hell would I do that?”

“Even when the alpha is not your mate, their pheromones can help keep you calm. If you use that in conjunction with using a sex toy, you might find more relief than before.”

“Who the hell would I ask?” asked Lovino.

“Your brother in law?”

At that, Lovino jumped to his feet, slammed his hands on the desk and yelled, “No fucking way. I'd rather die than have that macho, potato- loving jerk in my room while I'm in heat.”

Then he stormed out of the room, only going back when the doctor called him to take his prescription.

To Lovino, it was official.

The doctor was a fucking quack.

#

That was what he thought of course and so he didn't tell anybody what the physician had suggested. He didn't breath a word of it.

Yet after nearly a year of no Gilbert and way more heats than a normal omega would ever deal with, Lovino snapped. 

It hadn't actually been a decision he was aware of making.

He'd been in heat, the worst yet. He was curled in a ball and had been for a few days.

Feliciano had work to do, especially with Lovino unable to work. Ludwig had the day off though. So the alpha went into Lovino's room. 

Usually Feliciano helped Lovino stock up his nest so that Ludwig didn't have to enter. That was perfectly fine by Lovino. However that day Feliciano had forgotten. 

So Lovino, incredibly thirsty, had called for Ludwig.

As soon as the alpha approached the nest, Lovino could feel an slow decline of the painful heat coursing through his body. An easing of the need, even if only by a little bit.

Hiding under a blanket, Lovino shoved a toy into himself and sighed. Though as Ludwig tried to leave, Lovino felt a bit of the pain come back.

“Wait dammit!” called Lovino.

“Ja?” said Ludwig.

“Just, can you stay here for a bit. Not in my nest, just...be there okay, for fucks sake,” muttered Lovino.

He was met with silence for a while, but the somewhat soothing presence of an alpha didn't go away. Eventually Lovino heard beeps from a phone.

Ludwig had settled himself in.

Lovino hid himself more inside of his blanket just thankfully that it didn't hurt as bad.

But it would never be a replacement for what he really needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prussia's perspective comes next chapter. He hasn't had things easy, so get your tissues ready in five days (because I teared up while writing it).


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter will go over some of the things that happened in chapters 1 & 2 but from Gilbert's perspective. I felt like it was important and that by skipping them over too much, you guys would miss out. I also tried to get into enough detail with Gilbert's former relationship with Elizabeta, but I didn't want to overwhelm you. This is a Prumano after all. So yeah.   
> All that said, I do really like this chapter.

**Chapter Four**

* * *

 

 

There were a two scents that Gilbert Beilschmidt would always remember for as long as he lived.

 

The first was the scent of his mate – Elizabeta  Héderváry.

 

He'd met her when they were children back when Gilbert lived in Germany with his family. There'd been a forest right behind their home that Gilbert had loved to play in and he and his little brother had built a fort. Gilbert had dubbed it, 'awesome', which at the time was the only word of English that he knew. He called a lot of things 'awesome'. He and Luddy played in it often.

 

Then one day, after a week-long vacation, he came back to find a boy around his own age playing in it. A handkerchief had been tied to a stick on the outside of it. When he went up the ladder, he immediately had the tip of a small wooden sword thrust at his face.

 

“Who goes there?” cried the other boy.

 

“Who- What do you mean who? This is my awesome fort. Get out,” retorted Gilbert, staring at the boy with the messy light brown hair and green eyes.

 

“Well you weren't here, so I claimed it in the name of Hungary.”

 

“What's that?”

 

“Where used to live before my parents moved. Now this is part of it.”

 

“It's not, little boy, it's mine because I built it. It's part of Germany.”

 

They stayed there for close to an hour, just arguing about who owned the fort and in what country it was. Eventually, Gilbert's mother called him back for lunch and he had to leave. That hadn't stopped him and Elizabeta from having that same fight for nearly a year, taking turns conquering the small wooden tree house. At the time, Gilbert thought Elizabeta was a boy. She never introduced herself and since they lived on other sides of the forest, they didn't go to the same school. So he just called her Hungary, since that was the only thing he could think to call her at the time.

 

They went on like that for two years, before a child of one of Elizabeta's family friends came into the forest to find her. He called her by name.

 

Even Gilbert knew that wasn't a boy's name. So he said, “Why do you have a girl's name?”

 

The kid who came for Elizabeta, a boy who Gilbert would later learn was named Roderich, said, “That's because she is a girl. Now come along Elizabeta. Dinner is soon to be served.”

 

Gilbert had hated that prissy Roderich right away. Even though, at the time, he supposedly didn't really like Elizabeta either, he just hated Roderich a whole lot more.

 

By the time high school came around, Gilbert found himself always picking fights with Roderich, who by that time had moved to their town. Thankfully Gilbert went to the same high school as Elizabeta so he could follow her everywhere.

 

It pissed her off, and she let him know. She always let him know. Most people would just tell Gilbert to fuck off if his awesome became too much for them.

 

Elizabeta would hit him though.

 

Hard.

 

Gilbert loved it, even if he was an alpha and was supposed to crave for people to submit to him. He loved Elizabeta's spirit.

 

It helped, of course, that she was gorgeous. That had nothing to do with the dresses she began to wear as she hit puberty. Gilbert actually disliked the flowy clothes because they made her lag behind when they went hiking or fishing. He preferred her in practical clothes like pants and boots.

 

Her entire family, however, hated Gilbert. They wanted her to end up mated to the handsome and refined Roderich. The prissy best friend of Elizabeta.

 

Sometimes, just to annoy Gilbert, she pretended to go on dates with Roderich.

 

Deep down, however, Gilbert knew that she had cared, even before they hit their coming of age at eighteen. Liz never cuddled with the priss like she did with Gilbert when she was too tired to fight. She never had the same spark in her eyes when she talked to Roderich.

 

Sure enough, when Roderich hit eighteen, he found his mate in another boy in town whose name was Vash. Since they were true mates, there wasn't much that anybody could have done.

 

On Elizabeta's eighteenth birthday, she was with family. They took her on a two week long vacation. By that time, Gilbert had been already of age and was dying to find out if he was right and Liz was his mate.

 

Those two weeks felt like the longest of his life at that time. He was at her house every day, waiting at their driveway, pacing and dying to see Elizabeta.

 

As the car slowed close to the house, Gilbert met her father's eye first and the older man tried to drive away.

 

“Hey!” called Gilbert as the car drove down the street.

 

He ran after it.

 

He obviously couldn't hear what was said in the vehicle, but Elizabeta looked back and her faced lit up when she saw him. The car stopped and she leapt out.

 

As soon as she ran to him and took a deep breath in, they both knew. Gilbert could smell her wonderful sweetness like a meadow of flowers.

 

They knew that they were true mates.

 

Destined to be together forever.

 

The couple made love that very night and it was one of the most wonderful of Gilbert's life.

 

Elizabeta, who was not really one for all the pomp of her family, eloped with Gilbert as soon as they had their amulets engraved. Her family did not approve of Gilbert, but she really hadn't cared. They fell in love more and more each day.

 

After college, they bought a two storey fixer-upper since they both didn't mind working with their hands. They decided to do all the work together and did a pretty good job at restoring the house.

 

Then, it happened. The worst moment of Gilbert's life.

 

Liz was in her second month of pregnancy. They hadn't told anybody because they wanted to make sure that the pregnancy wouldn't end in miscarriage. Also, Gilbert had wanted to keep the secret to himself for a while. Just to feel like he was one of the only people who knew of the adorable little life growing inside of his mate.

 

At work one day, he decided to take some overtime. More money to spoil the baby with was Gilbert's thought. He planned to take Liz out to go shopping for some baby clothes that weekend.

 

He drove around the corner to his home and saw that the street was blocked off with cars and a firetruck was nearby.

 

Near his house.

 

He slammed on the brakes and jumped from his car, running at top speed towards his house as he got a painful feeling in his chest. He prayed, begged and pleaded the powers that be that Elizabeta was alright. That his house wasn't on fire and if it was that she'd gotten out in time.

 

But it had been his house.

 

“LIZ!” he screamed, looking around everywhere, eyes wide and crazed with panic.

 

He saw police men approach him but he didn't listen to them or even acknowledge their presence. All he could smell was smoke. All he knew was that his beautiful mate was in the house.

 

With a strength and burst of energy that he hadn't even been aware of having, he darted forward, casting off the police officer that tried to hold him back.

 

Gilbert ran into the house, thick and noxious clouds of grey surrounding him, choking him. He didn't see the fireman in the house, unable to go up the stairs due to the intense flames and crumbling of the structure. He didn't stop though, not for a second. He just followed his instincts to where he knew Liz would be.

 

He got to the stairs and he he saw her. She was laying at the top, gasping for breath, hand on her stomach. Her eyes were barely open.

 

Just as parts of the second floor fell down atop Gilbert, he saw her mouth the words, “I love you.”

 

#

 

When he awoke next, he was in the hospital. His parents were in the next room and his younger brother was sitting in the chair beside the bed. Ludwig, normally not one who was prone to worry or panic, sigh in audible relief and jogged out to get the doctor.

 

Gilbert wasn't thinking though. He could feel the physical sensations in his body, but he felt dulled. Numb. He couldn't smell and he couldn't see properly.

 

All he remembered was smoke.

 

And for months all he could dream was smoke. Smoke and flames licking up around the charred corpse of his pregnant mate.

 

He barely slept and ate even less.

 

Gilbert lost a lot of weight and had dark circles under his eyes.

 

Nothing was awesome anymore. The world was in dull shades of grey, or they might as well have been because he sure as hell didn't want to see colour in a world without the love of his life.

 

He shook and trembled whenever he saw flames, even on a candle. He wouldn't get rid of any of her belongings that survived the fire.

 

Elizabeta's parents had died a few years previous and so weren't around to blame Gilbert. But that didn't matter because Gilbert did enough blaming himself.

 

He should have bought his mate a better house. One that didn't have a faulty wiring system that ultimately ended up starting the fire. One that was safer.

 

When Ludwig moved to Canada with their family, Gilbert went as well.

 

Life went on, even if sometimes, Gilbert considered taking what he had always thought was the coward's way out.

 

He couldn't though. He didn't understand why he couldn't just end his life so that he could be with his love. It was just that no matter how much he thought about it, and even figured out how he'd go about it, he never could.

 

But he just missed Liz so damn much.

 

So much.

 

#

 

When his little brother had announced to him that he'd found his mate, Gilbert was happy for Ludwig. Even if he was internally jealous and in terrible pain.

 

He'd gone from job to job, not able to stick to one for long. Most places let him go after a while when they realized that Gilbert just didn't care about his work. Gilbert wanted work, he hated being idle. Going out to find work was nearly instinctual for him.

 

After a while though, he stopped trying. Elizabeta's parents had left her a fortune when they passed away, and as her mate, he inherited when she died. So really, he had enough money to last him.

 

Before Gilbert knew it, Ludwig's ceremony was a day away. He'd really not wanted to go, but he plastered a huge grin on his face and hopped into his Mercedes. He was ready to try to look happy and send his little brother off into mated life.

 

When he got there, early because he was never late for things, he did his best to keep calm. He was pretty sure that he did a good job of it. Even his good friend Antonio talked to him like nothing was wrong.

 

But they didn't start that rehearsal and Gilbert kept wondering why. Eventually he heard his little brother say, “His attitude is ridiculous. I cannot believe he isn't here on time.”

 

“He isn't that late yet Luddy,” said Ludwig's adorable little mate, Feliciano, clinging to the alpha's arm.

 

“He is though, by ten minutes. I don't want him to ruin anything.”

 

Gilbert sort of wondered who they were talking about. Wondering kept his mind off of thinking about the last time he was at a mating ceremony – his own. He didn't know who the conversation was about because frankly, he hadn't paid a whole lot of attention to what Ludwig said about Feliciano's family.

 

Deciding to prop the door to the reception hall open, he watched as a car pulled in. A man stepped out who looked a lot like Feliciano. The man had dark brown hair and hazel eyes. He was short, more so than Feliciano, who Gilbert assumed was his sibling.

 

“You are late,” said Ludwig in his stern lecturing voice, walking by Gilbert.

 

Ludwig stormed over to the smaller man and grabbed his arm. He dragged the other through the door, not seeming to care about the sputters and slaps that were sent his way. For only the briefest of moments, Gilbert felt like he wished that Ludwig wasn't tugging like that on the other man. He didn't think anything of the though and promptly forgot about it.

 

“Such an irresponsible man. You are a grown adult and you need to act like one,” said Ludwig once more, once they were in the hall for the rehearsal dinner.

 

The adorable man opened his mouth and, in one of the grumpiest tones of voice that Gilbert had ever heard, said, “Hey! Who are you? My fucking mother?”

 

“No, but I am getting sick and tired of your attitude over this past year. I want this wedding to go off without a hitch,” said Ludwig, looking kindly over towards his mate.

 

Gilbert wondered if he should intervene even though he usually didn't care about how others felt if they weren't family. So he stayed quiet.

 

“Well it will. It isn't as if I'm that late. Only fifteen minutes,” said the man whose name Gilbert still didn't know.

 

“Just do not be late for the wedding tomorrow Lovino,” huffed Ludwig.

 

Ah. Lovino.

 

The kid was looking around at everybody and then quietly said, “What kind of person do you think I am?”

 

So Gilbert went over to his brother and said, ““Hey Luddy! Why don't you leave the poor kid alone huh?”

 

“Well I've dealt with him already brother. I have no more reason to lecture him further,” said Ludwig.

 

“Eh, it was barely any time at all that he'd been late by. You just need to get that stick out of your ass.”

 

Before he really knew what had happened, Gilbert saw Lovino stomp up to him, a pissy scowl on his face and grab a hold of his amulet. The amulet that his wonderful Elizabeta had paid to have carved for him, had kissed so softly right before they exchanged them.

 

"What the hell is this you bastard?"

 

Right then, Gilbert re-thought ever defending the little jerk. Every potentially kind thought flew out of his mind and he glared ice at the brunet.

 

"Get your hand off of that."

 

"What? You have a mate or something who'll care who touches it?"

 

With a rough movement, he flung Lovino away from him. Gilbert walked away, feet pounding on the hard marble floor. If he stayed around that prick any longer he would have made a scene and that wasn't what his brother needed.

 

He just wanted what family he had left to be happy.

 

Going around behind the building, he leaned against the cool brick wall and lit up a smoke. Images of his mate fluttered through his mind. Her beautiful laughter. Her stubborn grimace. Her graceful fingers dancing over his upper arms when she was feeling playful.

 

"What the hell is your problem?"

 

Jarred out of his thoughts, Gilbert noticed Lovino come closer. He hurled the butt of the smoke to the ground and said, "I wouldn't come any closer if I were you."

 

"Well I'll stay back if you tell me what the hell that necklace is all about," said Lovino.

 

Being here, on the day before another ceremony was hard enough. Why was this idiot doing this? What the hell was this brat's problem?

 

"I'd think it would be obvious. Or are you stupid?"

 

"If it was, I wouldn't ask. How many people have a mating ceremony with somebody who isn't their true mate?" said Lovino, shrugging, "Not fucking many."

 

Gilbert saw ice, he heard his knuckles crack as he fisted his hands and his head throbbed painfully. Before he realized what he was doing, he'd slammed Lovino against the wall. He barely felt the tiny voice in the back of his head demand that he not do that to the other man; this man in particular. His mind was too clouded with so many other thoughts to pick one out of all of the others.

 

"You are fucking psycho?" cried the man who shivered under Gilbert's harsh touch.

 

"Take it back,” said Gilbert, not caring what he was doing.

 

"Take what back?"

 

"That she wasn't my true mate."

 

"Well she wasn't, whoever she is, because I'm your true mate,” said Lovino.

 

Gilbert almost surprised himself with the laughter that came out, "You? You aren't anything to me. Everybody knows you only ever get one in your entire life. Elizabeta was mine, and though she is dead I won't ever have another. Especially not some shivering coward who lies about being mine."

 

“Jerk-ass albino bastard,” said Lovino, as if the little liar had nothing else to say but just couldn't keep this mouth shut.

 

He twisted his face back into a snarl and just glared down at the man, who he could now knew was an omega. He really couldn't tell anymore unless he got to know somebody because he didn't have his sense of smell to let him know.

 

“Hey! What's going on here?” said a security guard.

 

Gilbert shoved himself away, well aware that he'd pushed Lovino into the hard wall. He heard the hiss of pain but was too frazzled to care.

 

“Is this man your alpha?” the guard asked Lovino.

 

Gilbert responded before the brat could say anything, “No. I'm not. This is nobody.”

 

He watched Lovino run away, fall into the gravel but pick himself up and continue on. Probably still shivering.

 

Aside from the fact that anybody only ever got one mate in their life, Lovino couldn't be his. Nobody could ever compare to Liz.

 

He smoked three more cigarettes before he could manage to go back to his brother. All the while, he tried to get the look of Lovino's scared hazel eyes out of his mind.

 

#

 

Gilbert didn't remember much about the ceremony or even the time before that when he'd spoken to Lovino. His mind was too clouded and he could barely think straight. It was all he could do to put one foot in front of the other in order to walk. He did recall that he'd probably been too harsh on Lovino, but he simply couldn't remember what he'd said.

 

By the time the ceremony came around, he was already well on his way to being drunk. He made sure that he wasn't so far gone that he would mess up anything at his brother's ceremony. It had probably been great.

 

Maybe one day he'd watch the video and look at the photos. Maybe on a day where he felt more happy and not like he'd been punched in the gut.

 

By the time the reception began, he poured all of the money he'd brought into buying drinks. He chugged down beer like there was no tomorrow. Maybe he'd be lucky one day and gather up his courage to finally off himself.

 

Everything was blurry. Except for one thing: Lovino.

 

He saw the omega also drinking, and dancing with Antonio. Gilbert wanted to punch Toni and he had no idea why. He decided that the answer was at the bottom of another bottle of beer or two.

 

It was.

 

The beer told him to go over to Lovino and talk to him.

 

He slid up to the omega, feeling the lithe body grind dangerously close to him. Gilbert placed his hands on those seductively wiggling hips.

 

“'Tonio? Weren't you goin' back to Laura? She's gonna miss ya'” said Lovino, voice slurred heavily from the drink.

 

Gilbert leaned in, wondering for a second what the omega smelled like before shrugging.

 

“Thought you said you were my mate?” slurred Gilbert, no longer thinking about what he said or even caring.

 

The last beer he'd consumed finally worked it's magic and Gilbert stopped remembering. The world glazed over and he went with the flow of things. He wasn't aware of what he was doing or saying.

 

All he knew was that when the blur wore off just ever so slightly, he instantly realized that he was no longer at the reception. He felt a warm body under him. He could still hardly see anything around the room, which was swaying. Yet for some reason, Lovino was in perfect focus in his mind's eye. It was as if his mind had memorized every bit of Lovino's face.

 

What was most distressing to him was that he had a painfully hard erection. It was the first he'd had since Elizabeta passed away.

 

“What did I tell you about staying away? What did you do to lure me here?” said Gilbert, mind reeling.

 

“Nothing. You asked to come here,” said Lovino, pushing Gilbert away.

 

Never. He'd never betray Liz like that. He wouldn't ever cheat on her. He loved her too much. This little asshole was lying.

 

“Bullshit and what's more-” started Gilbert, pausing when he touched at his neck to find his amulet gone.

 

Suddenly his hand was on Lovino's neck, “Where is it?”

 

He tightened his hand around that delicate neck. Gilbert saw red and wanted to kill the one that he figured was responsible for the loss of one of the only things he had left of Liz.

 

“Tell me! Point it out,” yelled Gilbert, pulling his free hand back to slap Lovino's face, a huge red mark in the shape of his hand blooming up.

 

“Where?” Slap, “Is,” Slap, “It?”

 

He made sure that Lovino would feel the pain that he felt with the loss of Liz's amulet. Oh god, Liz.

 

He launched himself off the the bed and into the swaying room, Everything in his path got tossed around, not caring if anything broke in his rampage. He just wanted his amulet back.

 

Amulet. Liz. Amulet. Liz.

 

That was all that ran through his mind. He barely felt the warm streaks of tears run down his cheeks. His mind was so focused.

 

When he finally found it, he clutched it hard and held it up to his chest, right over his heart.

 

“Liz,” he sobbed.

 

After that, he didn't remember much. All he knew was that he got his wallet and took a cab somewhere.

 

He didn't remember anything about the first several towns he spent weeks at a time in. His phone had long since died, so he never got any of the phone calls that Ludwig and their parents would likely have made to him and it wasn't as if he could charge the device; he had left town without grabbing any of his things.

 

Gilbert spent most of his time drunk. He'd find a hotel room to camp out in and drink until he could no longer think or move. Most of the time his stays in a hotel room would be cut short by the staff demanding he leave when he'd wake in a rage upon remembering that his mate was gone. And what confused him so much was that alongside remembering Elizabeta, Gilbert would recall Lovino's face.

 

Time lost all meaning and he didn't even know where he was.

 

All he knew was waking up in a pool of his own vomit, blood and who knew what else. He groaned, holding his head and getting up off of the floor in the hotel he'd been staying in.

 

That was when he saw a man sitting on an armchair at the window of his room.

 

He was old. Really old. He was also slightly pudgy, but not overly so. His silver-white hair was combed back. What he really noticed were the man's large and shiny blue eyes.

 

“So you are finally awake?” said the man, his accent decidedly German.

 

Gilbert put a hand on his own forehead and hobbled over to the man and sat in the chair opposite him. Too hungover to question much else other than:

 

“Who are you?”

 

“I am Frederick but you may call me Fritz.”

 

Fritz stood up and went to the dresser where he grabbed some things. He went back over to Gilbert and handed him a bottle of water, which he showed had been untampered with, and an equally untampered bottle of pain-killers.

 

Gilbert couldn't have cared less if they had been messed with. He just wanted to die.

 

Still, he drained back the lukewarm water and three of the pills.

 

“So tell me old man,” said Gilbert, “Why are you here in my hotel room?”

 

Fritz returned to his spot across from Gilbert and crossed his legs, “My sister was staying in the only other room on this floor. Quite expensive, this place, hmm?”

 

Gilbert shrugged, “Whatever. I don't even know where this is.”

 

He scrubbed his hands over his face and then glanced over longingly to the still have full pack of beer that he'd bought yesterday. Or was it the day before that he'd gone and bought the cases. He didn't remember.

 

“Hmm. Well she heard you yelling and tossing furniture around. You're lucky that she didn't call security.”

 

“Wouldn't be the first time that it's happened,” said Gilbert, deciding to go for it and wander over for some more beer.

 

“Wilhelmina heard you crying out a woman's name. Was she your mate?” said Fritz, steepling his fingers and not softening his words at all.

 

The old man was blunt and to the point. Gilbert froze and turned around slowly.

 

“What's it to you?”

 

“I've dealt with this sort of thing often. I run a healing home for men and women who have lost their mates. Many who've lived in the home have come to me in a way not so different than you, in trouble with the law, drinking or drugging themselves into a stupor.”

 

Gilbert clenched his fists and grabbed the beer. Just as he was about to pop the top using the edge of a nearby table, Fritz said in an almost military like voice, “Do not open that beer.”

 

“Why the hell do you care? Just let me drink in peace.”

 

“I care about people living their lives after the death of true mates. Carrying on and finding ways to make a difference.”

 

“What if I don't want to? Hmm? What then?” yelled Gilbert, flinging the bottle across the room to shatter into a million shards of amber.

 

“I know how you feel. I didn't want to live on after my true mate, Hans, was killed. By my own father no less.”

 

“When I was only eighteen. I'd barely had any time with him before he was killed. I watched him die before my eyes.”

 

Gilbert dropped to his knees and held his head in his hands, “Her too. Liz. A fire. I saw her – she was pregnant.”

 

Fritz didn't say anything in a patronizing tone of voice. He didn't speak with a voice of pity. He simply said, “Do you think she'd want you to be here, like this?”

 

Gilbert shook his head while it still rested in his hands.

 

“Then get up boy, you have work to do.”

 

And with those words, Gilbert left the room with an old man that he barely even knew, but was starting to respect even then.

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the delay. I was away for a while and hardly had any time to write and edit. I'm back now and eager to continue writing.  
> In the story, there is a section marked with an asterisk. This indicates that there is further information on the end notes. I didn't want to bog up the flow of the story with details on how the body of an omega works. ^^; The end notes of this contain a somewhat graphic description of the way an omega's body works in regards to pregnancy and various orifices. If that squicks you out, you may want to avoid reading them.

**Chapter Five**

 

Later, Gilbert found out that he'd been in his drunken stupor for close to six months. When he thought back to those weeks and months, he shuddered and wondered how he'd ever managed to make it through alive. He was covered in scars and marks from his various rampages. So long spent in severe self-neglect had taken it's toll on his body, and he'd spent week afterwards getting back to his normal weight

 

Fritz lived with his sister and her alpha. Together they ran the large house designed for recovering mates. She was also in charge of cooking and so had stuffed Gilbert with more food than he thought it was possible to ever eat. They were German too, so there was also potatoes and sausages.

 

No beer, though given the way in which Fritz had found him, that was probably for the best.

 

Fritz may not have had a medical degree, but he was damn good at what he did. He was soft and kind to the alphas and omegas that needed that sort of healing touch in their lives.

 

With Gilbert though, he was blunt and brutal with his questions and expectations.

 

Gilbert wasn't allowed to mope in bed all day. He was forced to work out and help around the house with chores.

 

Fritz made him pursue his interests again.

 

After a while, Gilbert even pursued desires himself. Such as owning a pet.

 

He bought a little canary which he called 'Gilbird'. It was an awesome little fluffy thing.

 

The whole time though, he never contacted his family.

 

Fritz had berated him on that, but Gilbert hadn't ready to face real life. Not for a while. For some reason, he also felt apprehension about something else.

 

He didn't want to have to face the horrible things he'd done and had probably said to that Lovino guy.

 

After about two years since Ludwig's wedding, he could sleep through most nights without waking up a sweaty and screaming mess; he could think straight for most of the day and could actually drink a beer without needing to get drunk; he could think about mating ceremonies and not feel like a knife was twisting in his chest.

 

It still hurt. There was always a dull ache in his heart at the loss of Elizabeta. But it no longer ruled him.

 

And so he took his leave to see his family once more.

 

Gilbert rented a car and drove it back to Ontario, where Ludwig lived. It took him a couple of weeks to make the journey because he'd gone quite far. He didn't know what he was going to say to his brother about his absence. He knew that Ludwig would give him the lecture of all lectures.

 

He was prepared for it.

 

When he drove up to Ludwig's large home, he noticed that there were no cars in the driveway or through the open door of the garage. Ludwig's neighbourhood was a pretty safe one, but Gilbert still wondered to himself why his little brother would do such a thing. Maybe he was only going out for a short time?

 

Gilbert parked his own car and then tapped on on the steering wheel a few times. He fiddled with the radio a bit and rifled through the bag that he had set on the passenger side of the car.

 

Shrugging, he grabbed his bag and got out. He was sure that he'd be able to find a spare key somewhere around there. Waiting was just so boring.

 

He also took Gilbird's cage out of the back seat (with a seat belt around it so that the cage was secured) and set the entire thing on a shaded area of the porch.

 

He first looked around in the obvious places such as around the door frame (which he was pretty sure Luddy was too smart to do, but still), under the various pots and furniture on the front porch. Nothing.

 

So he got on his hands and knees and looked under the porch. Along the wall under the porch was a tile that looked ever so slightly askew. One would have to look carefully to notice it, or be very anal about objects being positioned correctly and thus, very prone to notice such things.

 

Gilbert took off the tile and noticed a cut out indent in it with a key.

 

“Success!” he cried and grabbed it, wandering out.

 

He unlocked the door after brushing off his pants of dirt and debris and went into the house.

 

To say that he was surprised would be an understatement.

 

The house was still meticulously clean and organized, that wasn't any different. However it had far more colour and décor to it that it every had before.

 

What was once filled entirely with modern furniture in shades of black, white and grey, was speckled with flowers, knickknacks, throw blankets and pillows. There had always been photos, but now, beside them were pictures in warm hued wooden frames. Every wall had some kind of painting. While Gilbert didn't know much about art, he thought that the paintings looked like they were from the same artist.

 

He didn't bother to call out, since he was sure that Ludwig wouldn't be home. His little brother always just knew whenever anybody went into his home. He was always around to greet people.

 

So he decided, while he waited, to go to the guest room and drop off his bag. Maybe he'd catch a wink or two of sleep before his brother gave him a talking to.

 

After leaving Gilbird's cage in the living room and making sure the little guy had enough water and pellets, he climbed up the stairs and went into the first door on the left.

 

At first, he didn't notice anything. He put his bag on top of the dresser and then plopped on the bed. That was when he heard a tiny whimper. It sounded like it came from behind him so he turned around.

 

On the other side of the bed, in the corner of the room and hidden from sight of the door was a semi-circle of blankets and pillows. Inside of it was that omega, Feliciano's brother Lovino.

 

The omega's ass was in the air, bared and shiny from slick. His head was buried in a cushion and his hands were clenched white-knuckle tight in the blanket below him.

 

“What the hell?” said Gilbert, getting off the bed on the side closest to the nest that had been constructed.

 

“Oh God you're back. I need you Gilbert you fucking asshole, bastard, jerk-face. Fuck me so that I can recover and then kick your a-ah-ass.”

 

Gilbert took one more step, reaching out before he shook his head. No matter how much Elizabeta's death may not longer haunt him, he still couldn't have a new mate. It simply didn't ever happen. He needed to leave no matter how much he suddenly wanted to touch the sweet naked body before him.

 

He ran out of the room and down the stairs just in time to see the front door open. Ludwig stood there, halfway through slipping off his last shoe and holding a fabric grocery bag filled with produce in his hand. The taller blond man walked down the hallway and into the kitchen. There, Ludwig calmly set down the bag.

 

“H-Hallo bruder,” said Gilbert, trying to keep his voice cool and relaxed, but failing in the wake of the bizarre calmness and lack of lecturing.

 

No, his shakiness had absolutely nothing to do with seeing Lovino naked and begging for him.

 

Nope.

 

Not at all.

 

Ludwig moved to stand right in front of Gilbert and then, before Gilbert could do anything about it, his little brother punched him in the face.

 

Gilbert fell back and onto a couch nearby, holding his face. Ludwig had left the room by then without a single word.

 

“Nice to see you too little bruder!” called Gilbert, holding onto his sore jaw.

 

Man that was going to bruise like crazy. Ludwig was all muscle.

 

His bruder came back, face far less creepily calm. There was an irritated look on his face, but an ice pack in his hand. Ludwig tossed the pack at Gilbert, which was deftly caught and applied to his sore jaw.

 

“Mutter was beside herself. You left without even calling anybody. We thought you had killed yourself and that we'd next see you in a casket, if your body turned up at all,” said Ludwig, shoulders bunched up and fists clenched tight.

 

“Bruder-” started Gilbert, understanding all of that but kind of pissed from the punch to the face.

 

“Not even a single phone call. Nothing. In two years you could have at least picked up a phone and told Mutter that you were still alive. That's all it would have taken,” ranted Ludwig, pacing.

 

“I was going through a lot,” said Gilbert, quashing down the urge to hiss in pain when he moved the ice pack a bit too hard against his jaw and causing pain to jolt through the area.

 

“I understand that but-”

 

Gilbert rose to his feet then and narrowed his eyes, “No you really don't, because you've never lost your mate. Feliciano is still alive and well.”

 

Ludwig stopped his pacing and softened his gaze in such a way that somebody who didn't know the taller blond very well would never have noticed. They would have thought that Ludwig was still glaring. He wasn't though.

 

“You are right. But everybody was still concerned about you.”

 

Gilbert patted Ludwig on the shoulder, “Well, the awesome me is back and better than ever. No more moping around. Liz would have wanted me to live my life and so I will.”

 

One corner of Ludwig's lips turned up in a brief smile, “Good. I'm very glad to hear that.”

 

They exchanged somewhat awkward glances for a moment before nodding. They'd never really been one for words. Punching Gilbert had said more then words ever could, really. At least to them.

 

Gilbert followed Ludwig into the kitchen and watched his bruder put away the food that he'd just purchased.

 

“So how're things?” said Gilbert, snagging an apple that Ludwig placed atop a basket of fruit. Ludwig just sighed and replaced the meticulously placed fruit with another similar one.

 

“Good. Business is well. Feliciano is healthy,” said Ludwig, taking a container of already cooked sausages from the fridge.

 

As soon as it was opened, Gilbert grabbed one of those was well. Ludwig sighed more deeply but spoke no more.

 

Gilbert furrowed his brows. That hadn't answered the question he really wanted to know for some reason. Really, anybody would wonder about that sort of thing going on, an unmated omega in a house with a mated one, and there not being an alpha around. Mated couples usually preferred to be in a house alone if all was well.

 

Gilbert knew from experience.

 

He watched Ludwig heat up the meat and then begin washing some potatoes. Gilbert, being the great big brother that he was, took a knife off of the magnetic strip holding them to the wall and peeled the potatoes as they were washed.

 

After a few minutes, Gilbert said, “So I went to put my bag in the guest room and I saw that it was being used.”

 

“Shit. I nearly forgot,” said Ludwig, handing the last potato to Gilbert, “Can you do me a favour and cook these for me?”

 

Gilbert nodded and then cut the potato up into chunks. Before Ludwig could head off, Gilbert asked, “Where are you heading? You just got here. Don't you want to catch up with me and hear about my incredible adventures.”

 

Ludwig nodded as he grabbed some bottles of water and some protein bars from a cupboard. He looked over and said, “Well, since you went into the guest room you know that Feliciano's brother is in heat.”

 

Gilbert dropped the chunks into a pot that had been readied and said, “Yeah, I got that. Though you didn't seem to like the guy when I last saw you. And where's his alpha?”

 

He had to force that last word out and he hoped that it hadn't been noticed.

 

Thankfully, Ludwig didn't flinch and said, “I'm not a fan of his, really. We don't get along very well. But I feel sorry for him. I might as well tell you. It isn't as if it isn't the talk of the area and you may as well know since I assume that you will be staying here until you find a place of your own.”

 

Gilbert nodded without looking over. He just focused on chopping potatoes and not on thinking.

 

Ludwig placed the objects he'd gathered down and said, “About two years ago, a month after Feliciano and I got mated, we found him in his apartment. He'd gone into heat but had tried to do it alone. He was severely dehydrated, sleep deprived and hungry. Lovino had passed out on the floor of his kitchen while he was trying to reach for water presumably. After we took him to the hospital, authorities deemed Feli and I to be his guardians.”

 

Gilbert's mouth felt dry and it took everything in him to keep his hand from trembling as he cut up the last potato, “Why'd you need to be his guardian?”

 

Ludwig stared at the floor, “He can't watch over himself when he's in heat and he goes into heat far more than four times a year. Because he is unmated, his heats come once a month. Though his doctor says that is better than how he would be without his medication. If he didn't have his pills, he'd be in heat non-stop. The heat can come at any time.”

 

“And his alpha?” asked Gilbert, filling up the pot with water and salting it lightly.

 

“He refuses to say; only that his alpha doesn't want him.”

 

Setting the pot on the stove and turning it on, Gilbert then stepped away and closed his eyes. He felt like throwing up.

 

Then the only thought that screamed through his mind was, “What if Lovino had been right? What is he really was Gilbert's mate?”

 

#

 

He hadn't had much time to think it over. Feliciano came home shortly after that. The small Italian had wrapped Gilbert up in a giant hug and then ran to the phone. He called over 'mom and dad' by which he meant Gilbert and Ludwig's parents.

 

Upon finding out that their eldest son was back home and safe, they'd driven over so fast that the aging German couple probably broke the sound barrier. His mutter wasn't normally the type to give lengthy hugs, but that night she did. She had also sobbed into Gilbert's shoulder and then hugged him several more times over the course of the visit. His dad was nearly as stoic as Ludwig, but Gilbert could tell that his vater was glad for his return.

 

Yet Gilbert couldn't get the feeling of being unsettled out of his mind.

 

Ludwig hadn't come downstairs more than a handful of times and made his visits quick. It bothered Gilbert even more that only he seemed to have a problem with this. Whatever Ludwig was doing seemed to be considered normal.

 

As much as his parents seemed to want to stay, his vater had terrible night vision and his mutter disliked driving. So they had to leave before it got too dark.

 

Feliciano had to go to their Grandpa's shop early the next day since Lovino couldn't work nearly as often. So Feli gave Gilbert another big hug and skipped on upstairs.

 

Gilbert, who'd been told that he could have the couch for the night, sat up watching television. No matter how much he tried to close his eyes, he couldn't sleep.

 

He just kept seeing visions of Lovino in his mind.

 

“Dammit,” he muttered.

 

Ludwig was just coming down that stairs at the point and looked over, “Hmm?”

 

“Oh nothing.”

 

With a yawn, Ludwig at down on the other end of the couch that Gilbert was using and said, “Can't sleep?”

 

Gilbert shook his head, something vaguely unnerving stirring in his senses. He really couldn't put his finger on it.

 

“Want to drink a nightcap with me bruder? You know I haven't had a decent drinking partner since you left.”

 

“Yeah I'll take one and hey, why were you upstairs all night?” said Gilbert, tapping at the bottom of the TV remote, trying to get rid of his agitation that begged for him to do something.

 

He just had no idea what.

 

Or wouldn't let himself think about it if he thought he had an idea.

 

“I was in Lovino's room. It comforts him.”

 

Breathing heavily through his nose, Gilbert swept the remote onto the ground with a flick of his wrist. He glared at the TV and ground out the words, “Is that so?”

 

Ludwig raised a brow at the remote being on the floor and handed Gilbert his bottle once he picked it up. Then he sat back down.

 

“He was especially distraught today, even if he never talks to me. He seemed to be in more pain than usual.”

 

Gilbert flicked the channels around until he got to a crappy sitcom. Ludwig wouldn't be put off by this aloof behaviour because they didn't usually meet each other's gaze when they talked. They never usually spoke about feelings or anything, just how their day was. Gilbert was counting on this lack of eye contact so that Ludwig didn't realize how turbulent he was feeling.

 

Ludwig continued, “Today I even touched him to get him to-”

 

Turning his head, Gilbert snarled, “Don't touch him.”

 

Slapping his hand over his own mouth he then broke out into his normal laughter, scratching the back of his head, “I mean because you have Feliciano and all.”

 

Ludwig was looking at Gilbert by that point in time with his bottle of beer halfway to his lips. He slowly lowered the bottle and then, as if he were considering each of his words very carefully, said, “I meant a hand on his shoulder. My alpha pheromones help to calm him so that he doesn't suffer as much pain. Usually, with his medicine, he is aware enough of his surroundings to swear at me if I get too close. But today he wasn't, which worried Feliciano. So Feli asked me to touch him.”

 

“Oh,” said Gilbert and chugging back half of his beer, not thinking about trying to avoid the bad habit of using alcohol to avoid his problems.

 

“Why do you care?” said Ludwig once more.

 

Gilbert finished his beer and pressed the power button to the TV, “I'm sleepy after all. Goodnight bruder.”

 

And then he looked away.

 

Ludwig took both empty bottles and placed them in the proper recycling bins. Gilbert felt eyes on the back of his head but he refused to turn around and look. He just waited until Ludwig had gone back up the stairs to slump down on the couch.

 

Even laying on the comfortable furniture, he didn't feel tired at all. He felt on edge.

 

It was going to be a long night.

 

#

 

He'd fallen asleep at some point during the night. Gilbert hadn't thought he would or even realized it, so he was confused when his eyes slid open and he looked around to see the ebony curtain of night still over him. The only lights were the dim red dots shining in the background from the electronics.

 

For a moment, Gilbert wondered what had woken him up and forgot that he was back home with Ludwig. Was a guest in the healing house crying? He heard a whimper but it sounded too close to him to have been muffled through the walls.

 

He opened his eyes further and remembered that he was home with family. So then the whimpering could only have been made by-

 

He looked over to the bottom of the stairs to see that somehow, Lovino had crawled his way down them. The omega was on the ground, curled up and facing the floor, head down. He was panting and whimpering softly, quietly, as if he was struggling to keep silent. Lovino was also utterly and completely naked.

 

Gilbert sat up, causing a creak to sound in the couch. Lovino's head snapped up towards him right away, eyes glassy and soft pink lips parted. The omega was whimpering as if he was in quite a bit of pain.

 

“Shouldn't you be in your nest?” said Gilbert, rubbing at his eyes, still so tired from lack of sleep on his drive here.

 

“Not there,” whispered the small man, so low that Gilbert barely made out the words.

 

Gilbert, still fully clothed, stood up and made a few steps closer. He was far more awake than before and suddenly very wary of this situation that he didn't understand at all.

 

“What did you say? You'll have to speak up,” he told Lovino.

 

“You weren't there,” said Lovino, arching his back so that his ass stuck out more.

 

Not knowing how to respond, he paused, his hand extended. Between keeping to what he felt would be true - that Elizabeta was the only mate he could have, and the evidence that Lovino might very well also be his mate, he was torn.

 

He didn't know. But he couldn't just leave the poor omega there, especially not after all he'd done to him. So he bent down and scooped the small man into his arms. Lovino twined his arms around Gilbert's neck and nuzzled hard into his neck.

 

Gilbert tried to hurry with his journey. All he was doing was putting Lovino back into his nest and then going back downstairs to get some shuteye. Oh, and maybe he'd wake up Feliciano or Ludwig to keep an eye on Lovino.

 

But as he entered the room, he felt light headed. He couldn't smell anything, true, but he could feel the pheromones that had filled the room with the essence of the omega's heat even more acutely than he had earlier that afternoon. He felt Lovino press needy kisses to Gilbert's neck.

 

He felt his own dick respond and harden like it hadn't in years upon years, not that he could remember.

 

Gilbert took a deep breath. He was too amazing to give in to weakness like this. He couldn't. He stepped into the nest and gently put Lovino down.

 

But when the omega didn't untangle from the body above him, Gilbert didn't try to pry him away. He hovered over him, still feeling those so damn soft lips roam over his neck and jaw.

 

He closed his eyes and counted backwards from ten in his mind. He was in control of himself he could-

 

He felt Lovino reach down and palm Gilbert through his pants.

 

And Gilbert lost control.

 

Place a hand on the side of Lovino's face and pressed down into a deep kiss full of warm wet heat and dancing tongues. It was so intoxicating, the feel of somebody else so close to him. The feel of Lovino's slender fingers working open the fly to his pants.

 

Oh God, the taste of Lovino's neck. He couldn't smell Lovino's mating scent, but now Gilbert could taste it. Under the saltiness of the sweat was a faint taste of herbs of some kind. Gilbert had no idea what sort it was, only that it drew him in and made him suck up a patch of skin just at the top of Lovino's barely defined pecs.

 

Lovino grabbed onto Gilbert's hair and pushed the alpha's head down. Gilbert felt his dick throb but felt the instinct to put the omega in his place. He grabbed both hands and pinned them down firmly with his knees at the omega's side, though not hard enough to hurt. He hovered over Lovino and brought those delectable lips against his once more, kissing deep and hard until they both pulled away breathless.

 

He slid his knees from Lovino's hands and then moved to slide off his clothes until he was completely nude as well. He moved to kneeling, lifting the Omega's legs to rest on his shoulders.

 

Gilbert pressed a single finger to Lovino's hole, which was slippery and wet with his natural lubricant. He hardly needed to put any pressure on before it slid inside the special opening that only male omegas had, just inside the ass*. It was still so tight, but relaxing with every second. A soft litany of whispered Italian drifted from Lovino as Gilbert slipped in a second finger, and then a third.

 

“I need you,” said Lovino in english, fingertips brushing along Gilbert's chest.

 

Leaning over Lovino, Gilbert pressed the tip of his cock in place. Slowly and gently, he pushed in. He heard the loud cry come from Lovino, a desperate wail as the omega dug his fingernails into Gilbert's back. Gilbert peppered Lovino's neck with licks, kisses and nips as he slid all the way inside.

 

“Are you alright?” asked Gilbert, stroking Lovino's hair while the smaller man still wailed in sheer ecstasy.

 

Lovino didn't have the chance to respond before the door flew open.

 

First came Feliciano, crying, “Fratello? What's wrong?”

 

Then was Ludwig with his forehead wrinkled in confusion before he said, “What the hell are you doing Bruder?”

 

There was an undertone of hostility to Ludwig's voice, as if somehow Gilbert was hurting Lovino. Gilbert wanted none of that.

 

Baring his teeth, including the long canines that had descended, he snarled loud and clear, “Get the fuck out of here!”

 

Gilbert had no idea if his eyes were glowing. Sometimes that happened to alphas who were with their omegas in heat. Right then, he was too far gone, too deep in the moment to care what anybody saw.

 

Ludwig got right in front of Feliciano and glared at Gilbert, who was still making shallow thrusts, “Don't snarl at Feliciano in our own home.”

 

But then, even while Feliciano was asking Ludwig what was going on, the other couple left the room.

 

Both alpha and omega clung to each other, starting a fast and hard pace. Clutching, biting and scratching, they approached their orgasm.

 

Close.

 

So close.

 

Lovino's sweet moans and bared throat.

 

Gilbert felt himself knot at the base of his dick, just before he came. He took what was offered and bit deep into the crook of Lovino's neck, feeling the coppery, sweet and thick taste of his mate on his tongue. Right after, Lovino's blunt teeth bit into the skin on Gilbert's chest, directly over his heart. Bonding them physically forever.

 

The warmth the spread between their bodies as Lovino found his peak and crashed over it.

 

As they finished, Gilbert eased them both to their sides carefully, still aware that they were connected.

 

And they feel deep asleep.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *This hole is an opening that is adjacent to the anus, but not quite inside of it. The two orifices use the same hole. Unless an omega is in heat, or heavily stimulated, the heat canal doesn't open. This is nature's way of helping to reduce germs and bacteria from entering the cervix and uterus. Also, this entrance is used for conception only.   
> Close to the due date, a line of darkened skin will appear on the pregnant male's lower abdomen. It grows darker and darker until the person goes into labour. Upon going into labour, the skin will weaken in the area and split into an opening, through which the child will be born.  
> It is said that the body developed this way to combat the infertility that plagued the entire human race. Females have been even known to grow 'male' genetalia in the absence of available men.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little shout-out to Azumeowth for helping to provide for some of the lines in the second last paragraph. :) It fit well and was spicier than what I wrote.

Chapter Six

Faint streams of yellow light poured through the cracked curtains of the guest room, the room Lovino had been using for close to two years by that point. Opening his eyes only a slit, just enough to see the dim rays of sunshine, Lovino didn't want to move. For the first time in what seemed like forever, he was comfortable. 

No pain. No feverish heat.

Nothing but intense satiation.

Briefly he wondered why as he turned to lay on his back. That movement, however, was enough to remind him exactly why he felt alright, the feeling of a warm body touched his own.

Laying right behind him, sprawled out, was Gilbert.

Then Lovino remembered.

Gilbert coming home and barging into Lovino's room with luggage in his hands and then running right back out. Feeling the heat grow in intensity until he could barely stand it, mind blank and muzzy feeling.

He recalled crawling down the stairs like a pathetic fool and-

“Holy fucking shit,” whispered Lovino, “He's back.”

Gilbert was still completely naked. They'd gone at it several more times during the night. Thankfully Lovino had been almost near the end of his overly long heat anyway, so one night of being with Gilbert had been enough to draw the cycle to a close.

Sleeping as he was, Gilbert's mouth hanging open and the occasional soft snore drifting out, he looked pretty handsome. His white hair was all over the pillow and the man was sprawled on the bed like a starfish.

Still-

Lovino slapped his hand across Gilbert's face hard and straddled him, slapping his other cheek. 

Gilbert awoke in an instant, sputtering, “What the hell?”

Getting down right into the alpha's face, Lovino yelled, “Where the fuck have you been, asshole?”

“Does it matter?” asked Gilbert, seemingly unphased by the physical assault, “Your awesome mate is here now.”

“Oh so now you believe me?” said Lovino, sitting up on Gilbert's stomach with his arms crossed over his chest and looking away to the wall, bouncing one on the stomach just to hear the grunt of discomfort from the man under him.

“Oomph! Yeah. Well, I sort of got the impression that maybe you'd been telling the truth when Ludwig told me that you'd been going into almost constant heat since their ceremony – when you met me.”

Lovino snorted and let more of his body weight rest on Gilbert's stomach. He hoped it hurt.

“Hey, I can't really breathe very well,” said Gilbert, raising the index finger of a hand.

“Go to hell. Why did you even come back?” said Lovino, but getting off of Gilbert's stomach anyway.

Gilbert sat up and then scratched at his body a few times before shrugging and saying, “Uh, to see my family?”

Wondering if the bastard had even thought of him at all, Lovino slipped off of the bed and began to gather his clothes. He went to the adjoined bathroom and then shut and locked the door. Whatever. Lovino didn't need this shit.

He didn't start the shower right away. Instead he listened out for movement in the other room. There was nothing. 

Gilbert must have fallen back asleep.

On his way to the shower, Lovino peeked at himself in the mirror. He let his finger play over the still rather fresh wound of the mating mark. He had to admit, it would look nice once it closed up and scarred over. The descended teeth of an alpha injected a sort of 'toxin' that prevented the skin from healing fully, resulting in scarring on the neck bite. It was more than just a way to bond, warning off other alphas in the days before mating ceremonies and amulets.

Lovino frowned and then cracked the bathroom door to peek out. Gilbert's neck was exposed and then Lovino saw it. It had been around Gilbert's neck the entire time. The mating amulet from his previous mating.

Gilbert had taken Lovino while wearing it.

Closing the door to the bathroom once more and making sure it was locked, Lovino stepped into the shower and blasted the water on as hot as he could stand it.

He wasn't sure what to think anymore.

#

Gilbert was still fast asleep by the time Lovino had dressed and wandered downstairs to see if there was any food being cooked, specifically if Feliciano had cooked anything. He also needed a coffee really badly since he hadn't got much sleep the night before. 

Yawning and stretching, Lovino stepped into the kitchen only to find two sets of eyes glued to his every move. 

He had poured his coffee and had the spoon dipped into the sugar bowl before he whipped around, granules of sugar flinging outwards, and yelled, “Okay. Just fucking say it!”

With watery eyes, Feliciano said, “Gilbert was your mate?”

Lovino made sure to keep his face blank and said, “Yeah, he was. So?”

Setting down his newspaper and folding it with such anal precision that Lovino wanted to crumple it up, Ludwig said, “Why didn't you tell anyone?”

At that, Lovino turned around and dumped a spoonful of sugar into his coffee. He stirred it and then went for the cream. He'd need a lot of it, since he could tell that Ludwig had brewed it that morning. He knew because it smelled like crap compared to Feli's.

“None of your business,” said Lovino finally but without much conviction in his voice. 

Then Lovino added, “It isn't as if any of you would have believed me anyway.”

Behind him, Ludwig hummed thoughtfully, “Well it is a bit curious, since he had been mated to Elizabeta.”

Lovino grit his teeth and then popped in a couple pieces of bread to make some toast because he sure as fuck wasn't going to eat any of those sausages that had been made. While he watched the toaster and ignored his curiously quiet brother, he hated himself in his mind.

Simply put – he was jealous of that Elizabeta woman and he'd never even seen a picture of her in his life. Let alone the fact that she wasn't even alive anymore. 

But he was crazy jealous. Of a damn dead woman. Her amulet was still around the neck of his mate. 

Even though he totally didn't give two shits about Gilbert anyway. Who would?

He'd just removed the bread from the toaster when he heard a loud and obnoxious voice blast into the room. Lovino hated the way it sounded and yet loved how comforting it was, like a warm blanket wrapping around him.

“Put in a couple more pieces of bread. I'm starving,” said Gilbert, taking out a plate and scooping the fried sausages onto it before popping it into the microwave to heat up, “Of course that's because I was up well into the night. Busy.”

Ludwig frowned and spoke with a voice that was colder than usual, “I know.”

Lovino sat down at the table and nibbled his breakfast. Part of him was curious as to why Ludwig responded in a way that sounded angry but then decided he couldn't care less.

Really.

Having not caught the tone of Ludwig's voice, Feliciano began to babble, “So you're here for good now? When are you going to find a place? Not that I don't love having you here. Our home is always open to family and you're my big brother now you know. I didn't get to know you after the ceremony like I'd wanted to and now that you're here I can. You are even more family now that I know that you and my fratello are mates.”

It seemed that Gilbert was a morning person just like the other two in the house, because he grinned ear to ear and said, “We are mates. He and I will probably find a place to live really soon. Maybe just down the street from here or something.”

Lovino stood up from the table, fast and accidentally knocking over the cup. He didn't care about Ludwig sighing and going to grab a sponge to clean it up with.

“I won't. You can't just disappear for years after I told you that you were my mate and then just come back expecting everything to be fine. Go to hell.”

He didn't stay in the room to hear whatever would be said. He didn't care. 

He went and grabbed the keys to his car. Then he went outside and took off to destinations unknown, even to Lovino himself.

#

Gilbert watched Feliciano leave the room to do some painting. Ludwig was giving off an angry vibe. It reminded Gilbert of the time he'd accidentally drawn in some important book that Ludwig had spent a month's worth of allowances on when they were younger. He'd been bored and doodled on the edge of what he'd thought was a notebook. It turned out to be some rare cookbook that Luddy had his eye on or something.

The look Ludwig had given him then was the same one that he was giving him now.

“What?” said Gilbert once he'd swallowed the last of his breakfast, not wanting Ludwig to get even more pissy over poor manners. 

“You abandoned your mate?” said Ludwig, thinning his lips. 

“I didn't know,” said Gilbert, getting up to start some more coffee.

“I heard him say just then that he'd told you previously.”

“Yeah, but I can't smell. Plus I wasn't thinking straight at the time,” said Gilbert, staring down into the empty glass coffee carafe.

“Shouldn't you have given him the benefit of the doubt?” said Ludwig, “Do you understand the pain that you put him through?”

Gilbert's grip on the object tightened and he ran it under the water to fill it up. Once he shut off the water he said, “No. But how bad could it have been? And why do you even care? You didn't seem to like him very much last time.”

He cringed as soon as those words came out of his mouth. He knew very well how hard an omega's heat could be.

Ludwig slammed his fist on the table, “How bad could it have been? There is a reason that abandoning a true mate omega in heat is against the law! He could barely move through the pain of being in heat and not having you there. He tried to do it on his own and nearly died of a combination of dehydration, hunger and lack of sleep. And it doesn't matter how well he and I get along. I am an alpha and it is my job to protect my family, of which he is now part.”

Placing the urn on the counter carefully, Gilbert rested his head on the cool counter. As Ludwig spoke those words, they pierced him, deep inside where he'd been trying to hold in the pain of the loss of Liz. To think that he'd nearly caused the death of another mate. 

He couldn't take it. 

Gilbert ran out into the yard, pulling out his cell phone as he went.

He'd been doing so good at keeping back the pain, at managing it. Now, he needed help.

Going into the first name in his call log, Gilbert pressed dial and waited, his breathing uneven. He leaned against the fence in the back, behind a large tree. Idly, he pet the head of one of Ludwig's dogs that came up to sniff at him.

The other end of the line picked up and the friendly voice of Fritz came through, “Hello Gilbert. How are you?”

“Uh, ha ha,” started Gilbert, “I'm not doing too great right now.”

“What happened boy?” demanded Fritz though not without concern.

“At Ludwig's ceremony I told you a bit about it but I left out a detail about what Ludwig's mate's brother said,” Gilbert tried to take a deep breath but couldn't.

“First breathe. Nothing good will come out of you passing out,” said Fritz.

Gilbert did as he was told. In and out, through his abdomen and not his chest. Deep and cleansing breaths.

“Okay. So tell me exactly what happened,” said Fritz after enough time had gone by and Gilbert's breathing wasn't erratic.

So he did. Gilbert spilled out every detail of what he could remember and all that he knew about Lovino. Once he was done, he was breathing more evenly and his muscles weren't as taut.

Fritz cleared his throat and then said, “Well, first things first, you need to apologize to the boy.”

Gilbert plucked grass up and made a small pile, “How do you say, 'sorry for being a jackass to you and then leaving you to almost die'? How do I get him to see how awesome I am?”

“Be there for him. Don't leave that boy's side,” said Fritz.

With an affirmative nod, even though the man on the other side of the phone wouldn't be able to see it, Gilbert knew what he had to do. He'd devote the rest of his life to making things up to Lovino.

#

Lovino eventually made his way back home. He'd gone for a walk in the nearby woods. It had really helped to clear his mind and calm him down. When he was done with his walk, he'd stopped by the family store and told his grandfather that he'd be returning to work full time. Roma Vargas had seemed almost relieved to know that.

Still, Lovino didn't answer any questions about his mate. The more Lovino thought about it, the more he decided that he'd use Gilbert for when his heat came, then he'd force the bastard to stay away for the rest of the parts of the year. That would be a great way to keep himself from getting screwed over again.

He picked up some groceries with the intent to make a good meal for his brother and Ludwig. They'd been nothing but great to him and now Lovino could probably move out and get on with his life. He wanted to show them that he was grateful for their kindness, but didn't want to actually say it; the words would never manage to get out of his mouth if he tried. So he texted his brother to not make supper.

He bought some of the best pasta they sold, as well as a whole bunch of the finest vegetables. Lovino was going to pick up a bottle of good wine, but when he looked at the time, he saw that it was too close to dinner for him to have time to get to the liquor store. 

So he just went right back to Feli's. As soon as he pulled into the driveway, his door was opened by the albino bastard. Gilbert was right there, with a huge grin on his face. Lovino tried to grab the car door handle and quickly shut it in the jerk's face, but Gilbert got his body in the way.

“I picked you some flowers,” said Gilbert, holding out a small bouquet of what was obviously picked from somebody's garden. The guy was rich. He could afford to buy flowers if he wanted.

Not that Lovino would accept store-bought ones either.

“Great. Stolen flowers. Whoopee,” said Lovino with a roll of his eyes and pushed by the alpha.

“I'll just put then in water and then bring them to your room,” said Gilbert, not seeming to be discouraged in the slightest.

Lovino didn't bother to tell Gilbert that he fully intended to toss out each and every flower that found it's way into his room. What he did do was go into the kitchen and begin to put the food away.

No matter how much he was thankful for everything that Ludwig and Feli had done for him, Lovino would be glad to have his own place again. He hated having to put every food item into exact spots. He wanted to be able to put things wherever the hell he wanted. He had no idea why things had to be lined up along the strips of tape that Ludwig put down in the fridge.

Lovino always just put the stuff wherever anyway, he would just prefer not to have to hear grumbling about it.

Gilbert pulled out a vase and put the flowers in it with some water. Then he went and followed Lovino, straightening out all of the food that had been put away.

“Need any help?” asked Gilbert, pulling himself up to sit on the counter, “I'm the best at peeling vegetables. Whaddya want me to do?”

While he got pan heating up for the chicken, “Alright. Take that knife.”

Lovino pointed to a large chopping blade.

Gilbert grabbed it and held it up, seeing it shine, “Got it. What next?”

“Okay, now go take it outside, plunge it into your chest and die.”

With a grimace, Gilbert said, “That's not funny. You wouldn't actually want me to die.”

Thinking about it for a second, Lovino said, “No. I wouldn't.”

Just when Gilbert was getting a grin over his face, Lovino added, “Because then how would I get over my heat?”

The alpha's face fell, “That's cruel.”

Lovino shrugged, “S'not like you haven't been the same to me.”

After that, the kitchen was quiet, but Gilbert still stayed around. The alpha moved around slowly and with an aura of sadness hovering over him like a cloud. Lovino sort of wondered if he'd gone too far, but then he remembered being slapped and choked. After that he decided that what he'd said wasn't too bad. 

Once the sauce was simmering and the water was boiling for the noodles, which were fresh so they didn't need to cook for nearly as long, Lovino sat down at the kitchen table nearby. He drank a cup of cold juice. It wasn't as good as wine, which Lovino sort of wanted right then to get a good buzz going.

Gilbert sat across from him like a sullen puppy, pouting. It looked as if he was about to say something when Feliciano walked downstairs, his lips curved down into a deep frown. His eyes were red as if he had been crying and Ludwig followed him.

Lovino popped out of his seat, forgetting all about his irritating mate, letting the chair skitter backwards and yelled, “What's wrong?”

Feliciano just shook his head, “It's nothing. Don't worry fratello.”

Shaking his head, Lovino hovered around the other man and nudged Feliciano's shoulder, “It's not nothing.”

Putting in the noodles, even though it wasn't his job, Feliciano smiled, with such an eerie sadness in his eyes that Lovino wanted to recoil, “I miscarried again.”

“Oh god. I'm so sorry,” said Lovino, because that was about all you could say to somebody who had been desperate for a child but unable to carry one to term thus far.

Feliciano sniffled and said, “Well maybe next time.”

“Yeah,” said Lovino.

“And don't worry about finding a place right away Lovi, you can stay here as long as you want,” said Feliciano, looking as if what he really wanted to do was beg for his brother to stay. Lovino had grown up with the other omega and knew his moods and expressions well enough. So much for his plans to move out. 

Oh well. Whatever made his little brother happy.

Making a half smile, Lovino said, “Of course. I wouldn't waste my money on an apartment when I can just stay here for free dammit. And the noodles are done, let me strain them.”

Feliciano smiled wide at the understanding and said, “No I can do it.”

Lovino nodded and went back to his seat across from Gilbert. The two of them met eyes as Gilbert had his hand on his own brother's back. Ludwig never showed many emotions, but from living with the man for the past two years, Lovino had begun to be able to read the man's moods somewhat. He could tell the Ludwig was upset and he knew from overhearing conversations that the happy couple had been really wanting a child.

Though the nursery that they had built in one of their bedrooms was also a pretty good indication of how badly the two craved a baby.

Lovino felt bad for them, but there wasn't much he could do about it all. 

Soon, dinner was served and Feliciano sat back down, looking as if nothing had ever been wrong. Conversation was mostly between Gilbert and Feliciano, since they were the ones who most enjoyed conversation of the four of them. At one point, Gilbert moved his foot and brought it to slide against Lovino's.

Lovino threw a fork at the alpha, but refused to meet any dominant gaze thrown his way. 

They all helped clean up. Or at least, Lovino and Gilbert both made an effort to look like they were really helping. In fact, they were both not doing much in the way of tidying up. But it was the thought that counted.

Feli and Ludwig called it an early night, but Lovino wasn't anywhere near tired. He didn't want to spend the entire night in his room and he wasn't about to let the presence of Gilbert ruin whatever he wanted to do.

With an affirmative nod to himself, he grabbed a bowl of gelato and a spoon and watched a movie that was playing.

“Y'know that my bruder would be pissed if he saw you eating on the couch,” said Gilbert, plopping down beside Lovino and dipping his damn finger into Lovino's bowl.

“Go get your own. And he's upstairs sleeping anyway so why should I care?” said Lovino, scooting away down the couch.

In between licks of his creamy covered finger, Gilbert said, “I dunno, just saying. Can I get you something to drink?”

“No.”

Gilbert leaned in, “Eat?”

“I'm eating gelato, idiot.”

“Can I rub your feet for you?”

“No! Fucking shut up and let me watch TV.”

With a heavy sigh, Gilbert seemed to wither and blend into the spot. Eventually, after pouting for nearly an hour, Lovino really not paying attention to the alpha – honest – Gilbert went over to a cage in the other room. 

It wasn't in a spot that Lovino could notice easily, so he was surprised when Gilbert came back to the couch with a fluffy yellow chick on his shoulder.

Lovino's jaw dropped, “What the hell is that?”

“It's pretty clearly a bird. Gilbird to be exact. Isn't he great?”

Lovino looked away, refusing to smile when the tiny bird had hopped and made a cute little chirp upon hearing it's name. He had no idea if the bird was smart enough to respond to it's name, but the timing was at least adorable.

“It's alright,” said Lovino, watching the creature hoping up and down the length of Gilbert's arm.

The two of them sat quiet for a while, though the word 'quiet' mostly meant that Gilbert wasn't trying to talk to Lovino. Actual silence didn't seem to be something that Gilbert was capable of, neither was he able to sit still for more than a minute straight if he wasn't sulking.

The man walked up and down the living room and into the kitchen to grab snacks, drinks and sometimes came back with nothing. He'd talk constantly to Gilbird and even to himself. 

Lovino would have thought that it would be annoying as hell. Yet for some reason, it wasn't. It was endearing in a weird way. Before he realized how much time had pass by, it was really late. Lovino's eyes began to droop and so he stood up and yawned. It had been quite the long day and all he wanted then was sleep.

He was nearly out of the room when he heard a small voice say, “Will you ever, y'know, talk to me normally again?”

Lovino knew what that guy was saying. Sorry was a hard word to get out. All he wanted was to have love for once in his life. Lovino could just try to bury his hurt and try to forgive the bastard. Yet after all the bullshit that happened, he just didn't know what to do. 

“I really don't know Gilbert,” he said and went upstairs to get some badly needed rest.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *blushes* You guys are so wonderful. Thank you so much for all of your praise. I know I say this everytime I thank you all but I always mean it. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I am so glad when I hear that I've made somebody's day. That's the ultimate compliment for an author. :D :D

Chapter Seven

Three weeks went by pretty fast. Lovino was surprised that he hadn't yet felt like murdering Gilbert. The man had always been there, even right outside of his door in the mornings.

Of course, Gilbert had been right next to Lovino's bed on the first morning, standing and waiting for Lovino to wake up. A swift punch to the abdomen, right close to his crotch had been enough incentive for Gilbert to not be that creepy and weird again.

In general though, Lovino found it really nice to be doted on so much. Gilbert always had some kind of gift for him, even if it was as small as a bar of chocolate. Though Gilbert hadn't quite said he was sorry, or really spoke about had happened between them. Lovino hadn't yet even decided if he wanted Gilbert to. Remembering those times hurt and was so different from the Gilbert he had begun to get to know. 

That morning, Lovino had woken up in great spirits. Sure he'd been really tired recently, but he was happy. He hummed as he strolled into the kitchen where there was the most delicious scent he had ever come across. It was familiar, of course, but smelled yummier than normal. It made him salivate.

Lovino didn't think much, or even really pay attention to the two Germans and one Italian at the breakfast table. No, what he did was grab a plate and pile it high with potatoes and sausages. They were nice and warm still. Oh and there was coffee too. 

He sat down with his plate and began to shovel the food into his mouth. Between swallows he barely heard himself moan in bliss. 

“F-Fratello? You're scaring me,” cried Feliciano clutching onto Lovino.

Lovino scowled and tugged his arm away as well as protecting his plate of food without even realizing that he'd done so, “What the hell is up with you?”

“Me?” squeaked Feliciano, “What about you? You are eating sausages and potatoes. You hate those.”

Slowly looking down at his half empty plate, Lovino noted in horror that Feliciano was right. He had jammed a ton of German food down his throat. He didn't even know why.

“It just smells so good,” whispered Lovino, wondering what the hell those two bastards, who were gaping at him from across the table, had done to taint the food to make him like it so much.

Even as he had those thoughts, he found himself bringing another bite to his mouth.

Feliciano draped himself over his brother and buried his face against Lovino's neck, “We need to take you to a doctor.”

With a snort , Lovino said, “Nobody needs to go to see a doctor over deciding to like a food. Don't be stupid.”

Sniffling, Feliciano pulled back when Ludwig drew him away, “I guess.”

“Don't worry. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to take a nap.”

He only just barely heard Feliciano protest that Lovino had only just woken up.

#

“Holy fucking shit on a cracker, what the hell is that smell?” yelled Lovino, rampaging through the home.

He woke up from his nap in a pissy mood. Seriously though, who wouldn't when they woke up with the headache to end all headaches. Then he had come downstairs just to smell some sort of terrible reek.

“Will one of you bastards answer me?”

Ludwig was scrubbing the dishes. Lovino had only just managed to pry himself from the bed, but didn't feel very hungry. No, what he did want was for somebody to pay attention to him.

“You, jerk-hole, what the hell is that smell?”

Stopping to think for a moment as he dragged a fresh sponge over a pristine white plate, Ludwig seemed to think of something.

“I have a chicken in the oven,” said Ludwig, nodding to himself and then rising off the plate.

“Take it out and throw it in the garbage. It smells nasty,” scowled Lovino, eyeing the oven like it had a bomb in it, “It's probably rotten. Did you get it from the cheap grocery stores?”

Ludwig shook his head, “I got some fresh meat from a farmer friend in exchange for making a birthday cake for his daughter.”

Lovino didn't know how to respond to that and he got the feeling that Ludwig wasn't going to take the damn chicken out. 

So he did the next best thing.

He began to stomp through the house with his shirt pulled up to rest over his nose so as to muffle the hideous reeking smell of cooking bird carcass. First he opened all of the windows he came across. Then he took a canister of air freshener and sprayed all over the area. When Ludwig tried to scowl about Lovino doing enough, the small omega snarled furiously.

Ludwig went back to tidying his kitchen with an off-put expression that Lovino wasn't about to acknowledge.

#

After Gilbert caught Lovino sitting on the front lawn in only a pair of boxer briefs, holding an empty container of gelato and bawling his eyes out, the entire family decided that a trip to the doctor was in order. Lovino disagreed, since he felt fine, but he was outvoted three to one.

Which was why he sat in front of Dr. Williams' desk with his arms crossed on his chest, his cheeks puffed out and his eyes firmly affixed to some random spot outside of the window.

“So there's a few points of news to speak of, hmm?,” said the doctor, smiling wide, “Your alpha came back.”

Lovino had told the doctor what happened, now that Gilbert was back and everything was revealed. He trusted Dr. Williams after having seen him for two years. So the doc knew all about Gilbert and his having had a true mate previously.

“Yeah whoopee. I still don't know how I feel about that, since he left me for two years,” said Lovino.

“Then are you planning to report him to the authorities for abandonment?” suggested Dr. Williams, leaning back and observing Lovino keenly.

Lovino sat up straight and said, “What? No fucking way. I mean. It doesn't matter. Who cares? I don't.”

Dr. Williams nodded as if Lovino had just answered an important question, “Good. Then things aren't so bad. They could be worse.”

“I guess. Like the fact that I've been eating the sausages that those damn Germans keep making. I even piled one high with sauerkraut yesterday,” said Lovino, flinging his arms into the air in exasperation.

“This is a bad thing?” asked Dr. Williams.

Lovino nodded, “Of course. Sausages are disgusting and so is that damn cabbage slop.”

Though Lovino was internally salivating at the thought of going back home and eating another. A steaming hot sausage on a toasted bun piled high with sauerkraut. God, so good.

“Hmm. So the other reason for your visit today was to speak about your behaviour as of late. It has been worrying your family, correct?”

“They're just paranoid,” said Lovino.

“Well, why don't you tell me how you've been feeling.”

“I've been sleeping all the damn time, I can't get enough. I've been craving sausages even though they suck. I get headaches constantly and I can't stand the smell of cooking chicken. It makes me want to hurl my guts out,” said Lovino.

“And your alpha, Gilbert was it?”

Lovino nodded.

Dr. Williams continued, “He claimed you and had sex with you during your heat.”

“Yeah. What does that have to do with anything?”

“I think perhaps you may be pregnant. I will have to do a quick test on your urine to make sure though. There are test cups in the bathroom down the hall,” said the doctor.

#

Lovino didn't move. He simply sat there wringing his hands in the office.

“Would you like for me to call a family member? Your brother perhaps?” asked Dr. Williams kindly.

Lovino was about to nod, but then he had a thought. 

He couldn't let Feliciano know that he was pregnant. Not when the younger omega had been trying so hard to keep a pregnancy and have a baby. Not when Lovino had seen Feliciano sit in the room where the nursery would be and saw the man weep with a small onsie in his hands.

He just couldn't. So he opened up his cell phone and dialed the first number his mind came up with, “Get over here you damn bastard.”

#

He was sitting on the curb and snacking on one of the cookies that Dr. Williams' alpha had insisted that he take. Alfred was less like an alpha and more like a mother hen. The doctor and his mate had gotten to know Lovino fairly well in the past two years despite the omega's general stand-offishness. Alfred was very outgoing and kind (if a tad obnoxious at times) and Lovino found that the man reminded him a lot of Antonio in a way.

Speaking of which, Lovino saw a rather rusty and beat up looking truck puttering down the street. It was once red but now had many brown splotches on it.

Antonio was behind the wheel and pulled up, rolling down the window. The vehicle was so old that Antonio needed to lean over and roll down the window with a crank. His curly brown hair was messy as usual and he had dirt smeared over his face. The man had probably just come from the field and Laura probably had the car out with their toddler.

“Hola!” said Antonio in his ever cheerful voice as Lovino climbed into the passenger side seat.

Slumping down in his seat after he put on his seat belt, Lovino jutted out his bottom lip. He didn't respond.

Antonio kept looking over at Lovino as he hummed a happy tune. Lovino could feel those eyes on him.

“So what's wrong Lovi?” said Antonio.

Antonio, of course, would have known by then that Gilbert was back. However beyond Lovino's immediate family and the good doctor, nobody knew about Gilbert being his mate. 

His lower lip wobbling, Lovino cried out, “Gilbert's my damn mate. He left for those two long years after treating me like shit, total shit. Then he came back while I was in heat and fucked me. He wants a relationship after everything he's done and he's being so nice. But what's worse is now I am pregnant.”

By that time, hot tears were streaming down Lovino's cheeks. He leaned his head back against the seat staring at the slightly dusty roof of the work truck. 

“Whoa,” said Antonio, speechless and letting his lips dip down in a barely perceptible frown.

“Yeah,” muttered Lovino before he said, “I want some damn gelato.”

“Sure thing,” said Antonio.

Before long, they were sitting in the bed of Antonio's truck on a mostly clean towel (Lovino didn't want to get his pants dirty). Lovino had a tub of chocolate gelato in his lap and a plastic spoon. He was digging in with relish, only letting Antonio have some every now and again.

“So you haven't told Gilbert yet?” said Antonio, staring up into the perfectly blue sky.

“No. And I don't even know if I want to.”

“You have to. It's his child too, he has the right to know.”

Lovino puffed out his cheeks just for a moment before deflating and saying, “I know.”

For while they just sat there, Antonio telling Lovino stuff about his garden and his three year old daughter, Ana Sofia. She was a sweet little girl, so smart and full of just as much cheer as her father with the spunk and tenacity of her mother. One good thing with his true mate being back was that he would be well enough to be able to see Antonio and his family more often.

Still, that didn't give him the answers that he really sought. So when there was a lull in Antonio's talking, Lovino said, “How do I forgive Gilbert? I don't know how.”

He whispered the words so quietly that for a moment, he was unsure if Antonio had heard him.

Then Antonio drew his arm around Lovino and brought him into a big bear hug, “It just takes time Lovi. If he is really sorry and you don't want to send him away, it just takes time.”

Lovino didn't have an answer to that. But as thanks, he let Antonio eat the rest of the gelato.

#

As soon as he got inside the door, Gilbert was right up in his face with a worried frown, “Are you okay? What did the doctor say?”

Lovino sighed and said nothing. He just slipped off his shoes and went upstairs and into his bedroom. Gilbert followed, asking questions the entire way, “What tests did he do? Or she. You haven't really told me much about your doctor. Why did Toni drop you off? You could have called me.”

Flopping down on his bed, Lovino rolled onto his side and pouted. He felt Gilbert's hand caress his back, just the fingertips. The alpha hadn't really tried to initiate much contact since they'd had sex. Not after Lovino had made it explicitly clear that he didn't want Gilbert to touch him.

But when Lovino didn't say anything, just allowing the contact, Gilbert pressed his entire hand lightly on the omega's shoulder blades. Gilbert rubbed gently between them. Lovino sniffled and felt a tear run down his cheek.

“I'm pregnant,” he said, simple and to the point.

“What?” said Gilbert, without much inflection to his voice. 

Lovino had a brief pang of upset. What if Gilbert didn't want this? What if this made him leave him again? He still hadn't forgiven Gilbert but he was struck with the sudden realization that he couldn't do this by himself. Lovino was just about to turn around when arms flung around him. 

Gilbert nuzzled right into Lovino's neck, babbling fast German. Lovino didn't understand a single word of it but he hesitantly patted Gilbert's side, “English you bastard. I don't know what you're saying.”

“I'm so happy. I promise you. I won't leave you for even a second if you don't want it. I'll do anything for you, to help you,” said Gilbert, moving to his side and resting on an elbow, staring over so intensely that Lovino was helpless and couldn't look away. 

“You better not,” said Lovino, grabbing the alpha's free hand and twining their fingers together.

Gilbert leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Lovino's forehead, which was allowed instead of pushing away.

“Does that mean that you forgive me?” said Gilbert hopefully.

Squeezing Gilbert's hand, Lovino said, “Not yet, but I'm working on it.”

“Good,” said Gilbert, beaming more happily than Lovino had ever seen.

“Just, can we keep this to ourselves for a while. With all the losses that Feliciano has had-” said Lovino, not needing to continue anyway because Gilbert had put a finger over his lips.

“Not to worry. I wouldn't have done that anyway. I know when to keep my mouth shut.”

Somehow, Lovino had his doubts. But he nodded along anyway.

#

A few days later, Lovino had just finished his shift at the family grocery store because he had been told to leave early. He wondered why, seeing as how Roma Vargas was notoriously lazy and had come back from one of his many breaks that day with a sore hand. That alone would usually be enough to make Grandpa Roma want to leave early himself.

As soon as he left, Gilbert was next to him, waving flowers in his face. His grandfather could be seen through the window in the door laughing and waving at Lovino to be on his way.

Everybody he knew was a bastard who were all against him.

Gilbert came up to Lovino with a bouquet of flawless white roses. Lovino knew they were perfect because he'd checked them over to make sure they hadn't been picked out of somebody's garden and then wrapped. They weren't. 

As soon as Lovino took his eyes away from the flowers and got a good look at Gilbert's face, he cringed and yelled, “What the hell happened to your face?”

Along the alpha's jaw was a huge purple bruise that looked as if it had been covered up with some kind of makeup. It was still perfectly visible though.

“You know that your Opa knows that you and I are mates?” said Gilbert, touching at the bruise with gentle fingers, wincing and then muttering, “I really wish people would stop punching me in the jaw.”

“Grandpa punched you?” said Lovino, fighting between the protective urge to scowl and the urge to laugh because it was sort of funny.

“Yep. He can sure pack a mean punch for an old guy. He said it was for abandoning you. We're good now though,” said Gilbert, not seeming too put out for somebody whose face looked like shit.

Gilbert said, “Anyway, come on, we have reservations as this place called-”

He paused for a second and looked at a slip of paper that he had in his hand, “Cuck-ina dee-am-orie.”

Did that idiot mean Cucina D'Amore?

Lovino halted on his way down the sidewalk and stared at Gilbert's retreating back, “Hey asshole?”

Gilbert stopped and turned, grinning so wide his pearly whites were showing, “Yeah.”

“If that was supposed to be Italian, and I think maybe it was, can you do me a favour?”

“Anything!” said Gilbert, eager as every to please. 

“Never speak my mother tongue again.”

Saluting, Gilbert said, “Your wish is my command.”

#

“I've got to tell you, this is a pretty fucking amazing car,” said Lovino, stroking the buttery soft beige leather of the seat that he was sitting in.

How rich had the family of Gilbert's dead mate been?

“The word you are looking for is awesome,” said Gilbert, both hands on the steering wheel and keeping to a speed that seemed as if it would be slow for a vehicle as great as the one they were in, “I just bought it the other day. There's room for car seats in the back.”

Gilbert was keeping his eyes on the road, but Lovino could see the slightest tinge of a blush bloom up on that pale skin. Lovino gave a half smile. It was a nice gesture. 

“Yeah. Looks like it. You don't mind bits of – y'know – whatever the hell you give kids to eat on car trips all over your fancy wheels?” said Lovino, leaning against the passenger side door and smirking over at the alpha.

“Sure. Kids are great. I love them!” said Gilbert and then added with utter nonchalance, “Besides, you'd clean it out for me wouldn't you?”

“If you asked me to do that I'd have to clean it,” said Lovino, grin growing malicious, “To get off all of the blood from when I kill you.”

Gilbert didn't even bother to pout that time though and took another turn on their drive to the restaurant, “Eh, I'm starting to see right through you. You'd never hurt me.”

“Just try me,” said Lovino, halfheartedly and then flicking the radio on.

He changed stations until he got to a pop song that he liked. Under his breath he mouthed the words. Beside him, Gilbert caterwauled the lyrics as if he thought himself to be a supreme opera diva.

The way his body swayed to the beat even though he was sitting and driving a car was cute. Even the way he still didn't move his hands from the ten and two position made Lovino smile.

Man, he really might be finding himself being okay with this adorable freak.

#

“And so then I told him to take the frogs out of that gnome statue because that's totally not how you do that. And then- Lovino? Are you alright?” said Gilbert, leaning across the table.

Dinner had been great. It was real Italian.

Well, as real as you could get outside of Italy itself that was. 

The restaurant was filed with warm shades of brown and red that faded up to yellow like a sunset. Everything in the place was comfy, cozy and dozens of glittering candles filled the dim room with their light. Soft music was played on a guitar, romantic and really quite nice if Lovino was honest.

The food was quick for it being freshly homemade. Lovino got his pasta sauce made with beef and piled with tomatoes. It has been wonderful. He could no longer drink wine, of course, however he did have a nice hot cup of tea. That was perfectly fine.

He'd eaten most of it before he began to feel a twinge of something in his stomach. Everything he'd just eaten felt as if it were roiling around in a sea of stomach acid. Lovino slumped in his chair and put his hands on his belly.

That was about when Gilbert noticed that Lovino wasn't feeling all that great. Right as the words of question came from the alpha, Lovino leapt from the chair and ran towards the bathroom at top speed.

Slamming his hand onto the door of a stall he pushed inside and fell to his knees. 

Everything he'd just had for dinner came spewing forth. Lovino wanted to die. His throat hurt and he hated having his face this close to a public toilet, seemingly clean or not.

Not long after his first vomit, he felt Gilbert's hand rubbing up and down the length of his spine, brushing the hair from his face. A cool cup of water was pressed into his hands. It seemed that a waiter had seen Lovino run to the toilet and understood the situation, providing Gilbert a cup of water to bring to the omega. 

After the vomiting turned into dry heaves, Lovino groaned and leaned back into Gilbert's body.

“Italians are normally more romantic than this you bastard, so don't think that this will be a normal thing,” said Lovino wearily, his eyes almost drifting shut. 

“I'm sure. You're a regular Romeo,” said Gilbert, teasing and bringing them up to standing.

“Idiot, Romeo was an alpha,” said Lovino, not using a harsh tone of voice.

Fighting back a wave of sudden dizziness from standing up too fast, Lovino placed his head on Gilbert's chest.

Gilbert snickered and said, “Well then you're a regular Juli-”

Growling, Lovino decided to ignore the dizzy feeling and slam his head into the chest he was resting on. Gilbert groaned and stepped back. Lovino staggered to the bathroom door.

“Are you coming? Or are you going to let a small head-butt bring you down?” said Lovino, hands on his hips. 

Gilbert grinned ear to ear, looking as if he were part shark, “Of course not.”

#

After going to a convenience store and getting a few cans of ginger ale and some soda crackers, Lovino began to feel much better. They drove outside of town, Lovino only complaining a few times about the length of the drive. 

They arrived at a field. There were rolling hills of soft green grass. There was forest that was shadowed and black in the distance. 

“You brought me to a damn field on our date?” said Lovino, glaring at the ground.

“Just wait,” said Gilbert, taking out a few thick blankets from the back of the car. 

He walked until he got to the highest hill, Lovino trailing behind with his hands fisted at his side. He really wanted to know why the heck they were going here and what they were planning on doing. The blankets implied a picnic, but Lovino didn't want to have much more than crackers and his pop.

Gilbert spread one of the blankets on the ground and then sat down on it, patting the spot next to him, “Come here.”

“I'd better not end up sitting on a rock that pokes into my ass the whole time,” said Lovino, obliging regardless.

“I was careful where I put the blanket,” said Gilbert.

As soon as Lovino sat down, Gilbert rested a blanket over their laps and then he laid down on the ground. After Gilbert motioned for the omega to do that same, Lovino sprawled himself down on the ground as well.

“So now what?” said Lovino glancing over to his side at the sprawled out man.

“Look up,” said Gilbert.

And so Lovino did. 

Everything was dark and the moon was high, illuminated and casting it's silver hue over the two of them. Every inch the sky was littered with tiny pinpricks of stars, bright and sparkling and the milky way faint behind it all. There were so many that Lovino felt his jaw drop. 

“It's beautiful,” said Lovino.

“Yeah,” said Gilbert, right into Lovino's ear. 

Lovino didn't even notice that Gilbert was looking at him for most of the time. Lovino just shifted closer and closer until every inch of their sides were touching.

He hardly noticed Gilbert until there were lips at his neck, trailing soft and hot up to Lovino's cheek. Then Gilbert captured Lovino's lips in a deep kiss. Tongues danced together in a slow tango of wet passion.

By the time they parted for breath, Gilbert was straddling Lovino and looking down, crimson eyes meeting hazel.

“This night-” began Lovino, tugging Gilbert down to hide in the alpha's chest, “-it hasn't been so bad you bastard.”

Lovino felt every single rumble of laughter that rocked from Gilbert, “I'm glad to hear it.”

And it was then, that Lovino thought that everything might just be alright.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So some of you were feeling upset that Gilbert hadn't apologized yet. I feel bad. I didn't mean to upset anybody :( :(. Since I had this mostly written, I just finished this up and did some edits. No point in making anybody wait if they were sad and I was almost done anyway. This, I hope, will make most things better again and tie up that whole abuse aspect without whitewashing over the subject. :)
> 
> Since I posted two chapters so close together, chapter 9 might be a bit later in coming (or not, depending on how well my creative juices run).

Piccola = little one (female)

Chapter Eight

“Uncle Lovino!” said the little girl, flinging herself at Lovino's legs and hugging tight.

Ana Sofia was only three, so her words weren't pronounced correctly. They came out sounding more like, “Unca Wovino.” It was too damn precious if you asked Lovino.

He reached down a ruffled a hand through her locks of brown curly hair, smiling, “Ciao piccola.”

She giggled and closed her bright green eyes at the affection. Then, she said, “Did you bring something yummy? Something as yummy as Mummy's waffles?”

Her mother was making her way down the stairs of their farmhouse at that point, hand over her protruding belly. She was just far enough along in her second pregnancy to have developed a slight waddle. She frowned over at her daughter and said, “Ana, don't be rude.”

However even as Laura said those words, her gaze was eagerly searching Lovino's hands for a dish of food. 

“The bas-” said Lovino, catching himself from swearing in front of the bambina at the last moment and then changing what he said to, “Gilbert over there is carrying the cannolis.”

Gilbert came from their car, the new one that he'd bought. Lovino could have very well used his own car, but it wasn't nearly as good as the one Gilbert had. Truth be told, Lovino tried to spend as much time in that amazing car as he could.

Lovino felt that he was owed that much at the very least.

Moving up to Laura, Lovino gently took her hand in his and kissed the back of it, “Ciao Laura, sei bella.”

“Oh you, utterly incorrigible,” said Laura while grinning, she never blushed when men flirted with her, Lovino would know because he tried it a lot.

Women were fun to flirt with even if it didn't mean anything.

What Lovino didn't expect was the sudden arm around his waist, drawing him in closer to Gilbert. The alpha leaned down placed a kiss over where their mating bite was.

Lovino shoved Gilbert away with a scowl and looked back over to a fairly amused Laura. She stood there with a fist on each of her hips. By that time, Ana Sofia had found her father and was dragging him over to them by hand. Lovino hadn't' even noticed that the small girl had run off.

Gilbert shrugged, a vaguely sheepish look on his face, “I have no idea how 'Tonio can handle other people flirting with you. He just kissed your hand for crying out loud.”

As soon as Antonio was over there, his expression darkened and his gaze narrowed, “Who kissed Laura? I swear that I'll-”

Lovino reached over and smacked the Spaniard on the back of the head, “It was just me. Both of you. Idiots. I swear.”

Upon hearing those words, Antonio's face broke out in a gentle smile once more, “Oh it was just Lovi. I don't care if he flirts with Laura. I know he doesn't mean anything by it.”

As if to prove a point, Lovino flashed a smug half grin over to Gilbert who just shrugged, still managing to sneak a hand to rest possessively over the small of the omega's back. Lovino rolled his eyes but decided not to move away just that one time. 

Once inside, the food was placed on the dining room table that had already been covered in a number of various finger foods. Lovino and Gilbert were the only ones there for the time being. Feliciano and Ludwig were due to come soon. Right after the potato-bastard got off of work.

“It's been so long since you were able to come here and talk with us,” said Laura, putting her hand on Lovino's arm and casting a look over towards Gilbert.

“That's right. It has been,” said Antonio, casting over a glare and raising his fist at Gilbert who immediately backed away.

“Oh no! Not you too. I've been punched in the face enough for leaving for two years. Leave my face alone,” said Gilbert, laughing in a way that made him seem nervous.

Lovino walked towards the inviting display of snacks, grabbing a pastel blue plate and filling it up with food. He ignored the sounds of struggle and Gilbert running around behind him. He knew that the two alphas wouldn't hurt each other too much. Lovino also didn't really care. He was too focused on piling his plate with mini shrimp, olives, crackers and pate, and the best part of the whole table – a big bowl of freshly picked cherry tomatoes. 

Popping one of the little red orbs into his mouth, he bit down into the juicy sweet tang of the fruit. He could never get over how great they were. Antonio's were always the best and sometimes he wondered if the man laced the soil with some kind of addictive drug that made his tomatoes so irresistible.

“How far along are you?” asked Laura, whispering into his ear.

Spinning around to look at the slightly bemused blonde, Lovino looked around her and glared at Antonio who was in a headlock courtesy of Gilbert.

“So that jerk-face blabbed to you that I'm having a baby huh? Probably as soon as he got into the house,” muttered Lovino sullenly before jamming a shrimp into his mouth, “I was hoping to keep it a secret for longer.”

Laura shook her head and grabbed a plate of her own. The scuffles from behind them began to quiet down.

“He didn't say anything, though to be honest, I knew that he was keeping something from me. Antonio has been on edge and keeps staring at me with his mouth open as if about to speak. Then he sucks his lips into his mouth and then jogs from the room shaking his head. But he didn't say anything, despite really wanting to,” said Laura, the two of them going and sitting down in the living room on opposite ends of the sofa, “No, I guessed. You have a glow to your skin.”

“A glow?” said Lovino, absently touching his cheek before picking more food from his plate.

“Yes. That and you ate a nearly a plate's worth of food while trying to fill the one you were holding.”

Just then, Gilbert plopped down beside Lovino, a scratch running down his cheek and a bruise on his upper arm but a smile on his face, “Hey. Feed me, please, please, please.”

Gilbert opened his mouth and closed his eyes tight. He looked like a baby chick begging for food from it's mama. And wasn't that just the creepiest thought? Lovino tried not to think about how cute he thought Gilbert looked right then.

“Go get your own food,” bitched Lovino as he plopped one of the tasty tomatoes onto Gilbert's tongue.

Laura clucked her tongue at Antonio and Lovino looked over to see why. There was a big bruise on Toni's jaw and some along his arms. 

“I defended your honour!” said Gilbert, stealing an olive from Lovino's plate.

He was promptly smacked.

“It was never in need of defending. For crying out loud,” said Lovino.

Ana Sofia walked up to Lovino, hands behind her back, cute chubby cheeks dimpled with a smile, “May I have an olive Uncle Lovino?”

“Of course,” agreed Lovino, giving the small child a bit of his food without a second thought.

“Thank you,” said Ana Sofia, then reaching out and placing a small hand on Lovino's abdomen, “I heard you saying that you have a baby growing in there just like mommy?”

“Si, I am pregnant,” said Lovino.

During all of the scuffles and sounds of couples speaking to each other in loud tones of voice, nobody had heard the front door open and click closed. Nobody had heard a dish being placed on the table and delicate feet bouncing into the room.

“Y-You're what?” whispered Feliciano from the doorway, his brown eyes wide and shiny.

Ludwig loomed behind Feliciano, gently placing a hand on the small man's quaking shoulders.

“F-Feli, wait I-” began Lovino, hopping to his feet, only avoiding spilling his plate due to Gilbert grabbing it.

“I'm so happy for you fratello. I just need to go grab something from the car,” said Feliciano, turning and running by Ludwig with a few tears dribbling down his cheeks.

Lovino ran after him, not caring to put his shoes back on when he ran out onto the gravel of the walkway, tiny stones digging into the soft pads of his feet.

Feliciano was at the edge of the lawn by the time Lovino had caught up to him. He was facing away from the house, his arms wrapped around his middle. The younger brother was looking down into the pond that was on Antonio's property, watching some frogs hop around.

"Even they have tadpoles," whispered Feliciano, sounding so sad and unlike himself that it made Lovino cringe.

"I'm sorry," said Lovino, unsure as to what to do with himself, so he put his hand on Feliciano's shoulder.

"It's not your fault. You couldn't help it anymore than I can can help being unable to carry a child to term,” said Feliciano, leaning into the touch Lovino gave.

“It'll happen,” Lovino wrapped an arm around his brother.

“That's what everybody says. I hope you're right. So when were you going to tell me?” asked Feliciano, changing the subject as he usually did to avoid topics that revealed any sadness that he felt.

Lovino was aware of what his brother was doing, but also knew that Feliciano was one of the most stubborn humans alive when it came to reopening topics he'd closed in his own mind.

“I don't know but I would have,” said Lovino, nudging at one of the rocks by his feet and watching it fall into the murky pond water with a dull plop.

“So can I be the God Father?” asked Feliciano.

“You'll already be the uncle!” said Lovino with a snort.

“So?”

“So you can't be both. Besides, I'm already planning on making that bastard Antonio the damn god father,” said Lovino, probably a bit too loud because he heard something from behind him.

“Aw that's so sweet. Gracias!” cried Antonio from the porch, waving.

Everybody was out there watching them and Lovino blushed, removing his arm from around his brother's shoulder and scowled. Ludwig and Gilbert were by the front door, huddled relatively close and talking. Both of them were sporting smiles.

Just when Lovino felt all warm and fuzzy inside, Gilbert had to go and say, loud enough for God and everybody to hear, “Yeah, my sperm is awesome.”

Even Feliciano backed away at the dark look that flashed on Lovino's face when that little statement aired into the world.

#

Towards the end of the night, Gilbert looked around for his mate. At some point during the visit, Lovino had sneaked off somewhere. Not long after, Gilbert felt the longing to find Lovino. He hated being away from the smaller man for really any length of time. Especially after having been apart from him for two long years.

Gilbert would never understand how he'd managed to do that without running back sooner. The only explanation he had would be that it was the grief keeping him away. It wasn't even just the pull of the mate bond drawing him towards Lovino. 

The man was spellbinding. Lovino was gorgeous, that went without saying. There was so much more than that. With Lovino having a stubborn streak a mile wide, Gilbert was never bored. Gilbert could lose interest in things easily if they didn't captivate him. Lovino kept him on his toes. 

Going outside, Gilbert kept looking. The porch on Antonio's house was a wrap around, so Gilbert went around the right side and saw a swinging bench. Lovino was curled up on it, fast asleep. There was a blanket draped over a chair nearby that Gilbert grabbed and draped it over his slumbering mate. Brushing a strand of hair off of Lovino's face, Gilbert took advantage of the stillness to kiss Lovino's forehead.

Since their date, Lovino hadn't really let them touch too much, or even kiss. Gilbert really craved the contact. He wasn't afraid to admit that he was a touchy person who liked to cuddle. Snuggling was great.

With the way that Lovino was laying, Gilbert got a good look at the mating bite on his neck. Gilbert smiled and brushed the tips of his fingers over it lightly. 

Lovino's body jerked and his eyes widened. He screamed, “Gilbert, don't choke me again.”

The omega sat up straight, hand on his chest and gasping for air. Gilbert stood utterly still, staring, lips moving but no sound coming out.

A male voice from around the corner of the house called out, “Is everything alright?”

Gilbert could hardly understand who it was. His ears were ringing. He knew he'd done some awful things and said some stuff that was even worse. But he had no idea that he'd choked Lovino. Had he? Maybe it was just a nightmare Lovino had based off of his imagination or something.

Wasn't pregnancy known to cause nightmares?

Neither of them responding to whichever person was calling out for them, Gilbert quietly asked, “Why did you say that?”

He tried to put his hand on Lovino's knee but the omega moved to stand and leaned over the porch railing.

“It doesn't matter. Leave me alone for a little while, alright,” said Lovino in a voice that was far too quiet for such a normally feisty man.

“It does matter. I still don't know fully what I did to you back then when I wasn't in my right mind. Tell me. Please?” said Gilbert, really wishing he knew fully everything that had happened. 

“You don't want to know. So just back off,” said Lovino, unyielding.

“No. How can I say I'm sorry and get you to forgive me if I have no idea what I did,” said Gilbert, trying not to yell but getting frustrated, more at himself than anything.

“You really want to know?”

“Yes.”

Lovino spun around slowly, with a deep frown and said, “Fine. You called me pathetic. Weak. A gold-digging liar. You took me back to my place, into my bedroom before realizing you'd taken off that amulet, which you're still wearing by the way, and you choked me and slapped me. Then you ran off and I didn't see you again for two goddamned years.”

By the end of his rant, Lovino was yelling, voice hoarse and tears dripping down his cheeks. Gilbert shook his head, but even as he did so, memories flashed back to him unbidden. Instead of just vague ideas, Gilbert now remembered the feel of Lovino's neck, pulsing under his hand as he tried to strangle him. The sting of his hand as he slapped the tender flesh of the omega's cheek.

Gilbert rushed passed Lovino and leaned over the railing, throwing up into Antonio's rose bushes. He heaved until every last bit of undigested food left him, eventually stopping and resting his head on the top of the siding. When he looked over to try to see the expression on Lovino's face, dreading what he thought he may or may not see, the omega wasn't there. 

Standing to his full height, he searched his gaze. He didn't want Lovino to run away before they could talk. Though Gilbert didn't blame him if he did. Gilbert was a monster.

Ludwig got in his way, looking down and with his eyes narrowed, “Laura is taking him and Feliciano home.”

Gilbert sat down on the swinging bench and let it rock him slowly. Ludwig stood tall nearby. Gilbert didn't want to look up and see the expression of his little brother's face. He'd had enough of the disappointed looks but he knew that he deserved each and every one.

“You really did that of all to your mate?” said Ludwig.

Body feeling numb and his hands trembling, he nodded, “I didn't fully remember before.”

“To think that you could do something like that-” Ludwig shook his head, “I'm not sure I want you staying with me. I think you need to seek therapy.”

Gilbert looked up with wide eyes, “That was different, I'd never hurt Lovino now or Feliciano.”

He looked around Ludwig to see Antonio standing around the corner of the building. The Spaniard looked just as stoic as Ludwig and wouldn't meet Gilbert's eyes, “Please leave my property.”

“But-”

“I can't believe I used to call you my friend. It was bad enough before when I though you'd only left him. Mate abuse makes me sick. Get out of here!” roared Antonio, point to the car that Ludwig had driven.

Gilbert did so, stumbling slightly, though not drunk. He could hardly breathe and his chest hurt. Falling against the passenger side door, he desperately clutched at the handle, unable to open it for some reason.

When the door opened from the inside, Gilbert slipped inside and curled up on the seat. Ludwig was driving.

“Just take me to a hotel somewhere, but I want to stop at the beer store first.”

“Bruder-”

“Bitte, Bruder,” begged Gilbert, hoping that saying please would help because he so very rarely said it and wasn't joking around.

Ludwig sighed and turned onto the road that would lead them out of the country and back into town.

“Very well.”

#

Gilbert popped open his fifth or maybe seventh beer of the night. He took a deep swig of it and then cradled it between his legs, leaning against the wall as he sat on the bed.

They were in a hotel room, Ludwig and himself. His little brother had refused to let him be by himself, regardless of the stone cold looks that Gilbert had been getting flashed his way.

God, he didn't blame him at all. If he'd found out that Ludwig had done those things to Feliciano, Gilbert would have beat his brother himself. Mate abuse was not alright.

It was just different when you'd done it yourself. Gilbert realized that he'd been in denial. Apologizing would have meant admitting the horrible things he'd done and not being the great guy that he always thought that he was. He was such an ass.

He snorted and then laughed bitterly at his own thoughts.

When had he become such a wise drunk?

He chugged the rest of the beer and let the bottle dangle over the side of the bed, falling to the carpet with a thud. Across the room, sitting in a chair with one leg crossed over the other, Ludwig grumbled.  
Putting away the phone he'd been poking out a text message on, Ludwig got up and retrieved the discarded bottle.

There had never been too many words between the two of them, but now there was nothing. Ludwig wouldn't even let Gilbert turn on the television – as if he were being grounded or something. 

“How is Lovino?” asked Gilbert, looking over hopefully.

“Do you really think you have the right to know? Feliciano told me that Lovino has been talking to him tonight. You haven't even apologized,” snarled Ludwig, back on his chair.

“How? How do you say sorry for something like that, I-” said Gilbert, getting up and feeling the amulet around his neck rub against his chest.

It gave him a great idea.

Yanking it off of his neck, he went over to the small desk in the room and rooted around in the drawers for a piece of stationary paper and a pen. He found a pen and had a spiral it a bit on the corner of the paper to get the ink flowing. When it was working well Gilbert wrote:

'I don't know how to say this other than just bluntly. I'm sorry. More than you'll ever know. So to show you that I mean it, I want you to have the amulet that Elizabeta gave me.”

Then, wrapping the paper around the most precious thing that Gilbert owned, he thrust it out at Ludwig.

“Bring it to him,” said Gilbert, stumbling over to the case of beer and pulling out another.

He didn't hear Ludwig eventually leave, the door locking automatically behind him. Gilbert just drank and drank until he passed out on his bed.

#

When Gilbert woke up fully, he had a splitting headache. The light felt so bright that he wanted to crawl under his blankets, but his arms felt like they were leaden. His mouth felt like a garbage bin and he smacked his lips a few times, sticking his tongue out.

Getting drunk had a number of drawbacks for sure. Including not being able to remember a thing about the night before. After, of course, finding out that he'd been an utter fuck-face to his mate.

It took several minutes, but he pried himself out of bed-

That was when he noticed that he was actually in a bed in a hotel, and not in Ludwig's home as he had been for the last several weeks.

Looking around, he saw something on the bedside stand beside him. Ludwig must have come back, but he wasn't there now.

There was the amulet that Liz had given him; a tall glass of water with several beads of condensation rolling down the side; a small bottle of acetaminophen; the hotel room key, his car keys and under all of that was a note. 

Ignoring the ring of water-stain on the corner of the paper, Gilbert read, 'You don't need to give me her necklace. I forgive you dammit. I never thought I even write this, but Ludwig is right. You need therapy. Just be alright when you get back you asshole – Lovino'

Slowly, Gilbert looked down at the amulet. 

He'd given it to Lovino? The most precious thing he had?

Though that made Gilbert look down at the paper in his hands. He supposed that wasn't quite true anymore. He hadn't thought about Liz for more than a moment here or there in ages. He still missed her dearly, but Lovino was becoming so much more important to him.

Reaching out and feeling the cool metal against the tips of his fingers. Gilbert took the amulet and got up. He found that his suitcases were all inside the room, as well as Gilbird's cage. Ludwig must have really meant it when he said that he didn't want Gilbert back in his home.

He knew what he had to do next.

It was time to find a therapist. He would prove that he was a changed man.

#

Standing behind the counter, Lovino found that he couldn't get quite as close. His belly wasn't huge, but it was certainly more rounded than it had been a few months ago. He let a large breath of air puff out his cheeks and let it out slowly.

The store was open and a couple of customers puttered in and out. 

Normally by then, Lovino would be done his food prep but he'd been moving more and more slowly since Antonio's party. Truth be told, though he refused to admit it to anybody, he missed Gilbert dearly.

The man had been gone for two months, though this time making phone calls to Lovino every day. The man was in intense therapy. One that he could get a note from to prove that he was healing and a changed man.

Gilbert wouldn't let Lovino come and see him. He didn't want Lovino to be scared again, he'd said. Not until he'd had professional help. Only Ludwig was allowed to go there and would bring back cheques for Lovino in exorbitant amounts.

Seriously? How rich was Gilbert? Did he have stocks in a frickin' oil company or something?

Lovino had asked over the phone but was always brushed off. The money was so the Lovino was provided for. Gilbert told him that he'd made a promise and he wasn't going to break it.

That didn't matter. Gilbert could be poor for all Lovino cared. 

What Lovino wanted was to see Gilbert again. He had that one nightmare at Antonio's because of Gilbert touching his neck. He didn't usually think about what had happened before, not often anyway. Gilbert giving him that amulet had all but settled Lovino's decision to forgive the alpha.

But it was good that Gilbert was making sure he went the extra mile. And it had given Lovino time to talk in depth to Dr. Williams about what had happened. Being fully honest with the doc had felt like a weight off of his shoulders. He hadn't realized how much he'd needed to talk with somebody and work through his own issues about what had happened.

Lovino reached for the knife block and removed one of the big ones he liked to use best. He grabbed some green onions and chopped them into fine slivers, dumping them into a huge mixing bowl after. Then were the tomatoes, which he needed to slice very carefully to avoid their juices getting everywhere. 

He was so focused that he didn't see or hear Gilbert approach him. Lovino only noticed when somebody was trying to wrap their arms around his waist.

Though his first instinct was to jab behind him with his knife, he didn't. Feli and his grandpa were notoriously touchy, though none of them had been weird enough to hug them around his waist. Or kiss his neck?

“What the hell?” shouted Lovino, scowling over at his chuckling grandfather who he could now see was half across the store at the cash register.

Hot breath fanned over his skin and went to his ear, “I missed you.”

Oh, it was Gilbert.

Wait?

“Gilbert?” yelled Lovino, dropping the knife to the ground and flinging his arms around the damnable alpha.

Lovino pulled back from the hug suddenly and then he said, “Come with me.”

Gilbert went with him, humming a tune Lovino hadn't ever heard before and grinning.

As soon as they were in the upstairs portion of the building, where his grandfather lived, Lovino was turned to face Gilbert only to find a pair of lips on his own.

Gilbert's hands cupped his cheeks and Lovino felt as if he had no choice but to melt into the kiss. Lovino hardly even realized that he'd molded his body to Gilbert's and was pressed against a wall.

When they parted, panting for breath, Lovino said, “When were you going to tell me you were coming back?”

Gilbert shrugged and rubbing the tip of his nose against Lovino's, “Just now.”

“Jerk.”

“I know. I have been. But I need to thank you.”

“Huh? For what?” said Lovino, raising and eyebrow and making circles with his index finger on Gilbert's chest.

“For being patient. For giving back the amulet, though I would have let you keep it,” said Gilbert pecking the end of Lovino's nose affectionately, “For not giving up and forgiving me though I don't deserve it.”

“It wasn't mine to keep and of course I'd be patient with you,” said Lovino, though Gilbert would never understand how much the gesture had been appreciated. 

They kissed a few more times, only just barely touching their tongues, flicking out experimentally, mostly just lazy necking

“Do you really forgive me?” asked Gilbert after they were done and had moved to the couch.

Lovino rested his head on Gilbert's shoulder and said, “Yeah, you idiot. The bigger question is if you feel better, like, now that you've talked about shit with people?”

Gilbert nodded and kissed the top of Lovino's head, “I do, though I had been pretty okay before. This was to prove to you and my family that I wouldn't hurt you. Never again. I know I never said these words to you in person Lovino, but I'm sorry. So sorry.”

“It's okay. I don't want to think about it okay,” said Lovino, cringing, “You are a different person now than you were back then, bastard. So you've apologized. I don't want to think about it again and I'll make sure that your stupid brother and Antonio-bastard don't bring it up either.

And he meant it. Lovino might dwell on the past quite a bit, but he hated to do it. Things were different and if Gilbert could go through all of that to get better, then Lovino could try to forget. He'd already hashed it all out with the doctor and cried more than he thought he ever would. He'd also been fed more baked goods by Alfred after crying than he'd ever though possible.

 

Cuddling up against Gilbert, Lovino breathed in deep. He let the mating scent flow through him and fill him.

“I'm glad you're back for good now.”

“So am I Lovino, so am I.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that the whole therapy thing wasn't too disjointed. They both really needed to talk things over with professionals but I figured that would take ages to write out and make the story drag like crazy.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whee! Another chapter for all you lovely people. After this, I think there will be two more chapters. Those will cover the birth and then wrapping things up (with some kind of sweet ending). The next story in the series, as I have mentioned, will be AmeCan. Comments and Critiques are always welcome :)

Chapter Nine

Dr. Williams sat behind his desk as calm as usual, a gentle smile tugging up his lips and his hands clasped together loosely. Nudging forward a small plate of shortbread cookies, the doctor cleared his throat.

Lovino had his legs crossed as he sat on the chair beside Gilbert, who dove for the plate and stuffed his face with one of the baked goods.

“Thanks,” said Gilbert, muffled by cookie crumbs.

With a laugh, Dr. Williams said, “Not a problem. My mate baked them. Now, I take it that Mr. Vargas has informed you of my area of research? I study males and females who have unique mate situations. So why don't you tell me about yourself Mr. Beilschmidt?”

Lovino rolled his eyes, “Oh this is going to take a while.”

There seemed to be nothing that the albino alpha liked better than to talk about himself. 

“Well, I grew up in the best country on this Earth, Germany. Actually, the area we lived in used to be Prussia which was the best country before it was dissolved. So I suppose that makes Germany the second best. Anyway, I have a little bruder and two parents – a mutter and a vater. In school I liked math and any classes where I could work with my hands. Oh, and I'm an excellent archer. I did that a lot too in clubs and such,” said Gilbert, poking his own chest every now and again, which he had puffed out.

Not able to stop himself, Lovino rolled his eyes once more. 

Chuckling, The doctor brushed some of his silver curls behind his ear and said, “Very good. How about you tell me about your previous mate.”

At this, Gilbert slouched and rested his hands back on the arms of the chair. He looked from the ground, over to Lovino. With his face tinged scarlet, Lovino put his hand on Gilbert's shoulder. The alpha smiled and then looked back up at Dr. Williams, “Her name was Elizabeta Héderváry. She had long brown hair, green eyes and the spirit of a warrior.”

“Mmm hmm, and when did you two meet?” said Williams, hardly batting an eyelash.

“When we were just small children, barely into school at all.”

Lovino didn't like hearing about this. It made him insanely jealous and he wanted to bite into Gilbert's chest to mark him all over again. He didn't. He stayed still and continued to rub at Gilbert's shoulder. It was a huge step for Gilbert to be no longer wearing his previous mating amulet without feeling as if he was betraying her memory.

“When did you begin to feel as if she was your mate?”

Gilbert paused and scratched at the back of his head before he said, “Around the middle to the end of high school. It wasn't entirely a sudden realization, especially for Liz.”

Somehow, Gilbert must have caught on to Lovino's discomfort because he said, “Um, you don't have to be here for this if you don't want to Lovi.”

Making a grumble at the nickname that Antonio had for him, which Gilbert had caught onto in the past several months, Lovino nodded. Then he stood up with some difficulty. He had to shift and heave to get his pregnant self up and off of the chair. 

“Need help?” asked Gilbert.

Puffing out several breaths, Lovino said, “I'm fine.”

Then he plodded slowly to the door. The doctor had already given him a check-up, so he didn't really need to be in the room.

He and Gilbert had only become closer over the months since the alpha had been in therapy, going on a date every now and again and even sleeping in the same room. Ludwig had been alright with having them living with them again. Though both he and Feliciano were wary of Gilbert still. Lovino supposed he could trust the man a bit more because they were mates and Gilbert had done a lot to prove himself.

After walking down the hallway, thankfully not quite yet in the waddling stage, Lovino went into the waiting room. Though he should have expected it, he was surprised by Alfred popping out of his seat at the reception desk.

How did the aging man have so much energy? He wasn't exactly ancient per-se, but he had to be at least as old as his Grandpa Roma. If there was one thing that Lovino knew, it was that a man of Grandpa's age slept.

A lot.

Or maybe it was just his own family that was lazy?

While Lovino was lost in thought, Alfred had made his way up to him and was babbling something. Before he knew it, Lovino had Alfred's hand on his abdomen. The alpha was crouched in front of Lovino and cooing at his belly.

“Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?” grumbled Lovino, not shouting so as to not disrupt Gilbert and the Doc.

“I love babies and baby bellies. Mattie never lets me touch the bellies of strangers though. He says it's rude. But he's busy right now,” said Alfred, looking up with those astonishingly bright blue eyes, “You don't mind do you?”

Lovino clucked his tongue and looked to the side, “At least let me sit down first.”

He only minded a little really. It wasn't as if his own family didn't paw all over his rounded belly as it was anyway. So Lovino was pretty used to it and the doctor's mate hadn't ever been anything but kind to him.

“Didn't you get your fill of that kind of stuff when the doc had your kids?” said Lovino, not really thinking and forgetting that the two older gentlemen were blood related siblings.

Alfred frowned, “We're fated twins. They're always born infertile. It wasn't even legal for fated twins to adopt back then, so we never got the chance to raise a child of our own.”

Honestly, Lovino found that went a long way to explaining why Alfred seemed to have a ton of pent up parenting instincts in him.

“Wow, uh – that's too bad,” said Lovino, not really knowing what else he could say. 

He wished sometimes that he was better at comforting people. Instead he just ended up feeling uncomfortable and somewhat useless. 

“It's alright,” said Alfred with a smile, “That was long ago. I'm happy with my place in the world now.”

Lovino grunted and let Alfred sing an Elvis Presley song at his stomach. He wasn't that bad of a singer either, so Lovino didn't mind. His eyes began to droop after a little while; Lovino still hadn't overcome his accursed tiredness. He ended up falling asleep almost everywhere. The doctor had said that his iron levels were low or something, but so far the pills Lovino had been taking weren't making him less tired. 

He was almost asleep when it felt it. The weirdest fluttering sensation came from within him, a little flit of movement. Then there was a distinctive kick from the inside of his uterus.

Lovino's eyes flew wide open and he stared down at Alfred, whose hand was still on his tummy, “Holy shit. Was that?”

“I think your kids likes my singing.”

Before he could think anything else, Lovino said, “Go get Gilbert.”

Alfred did just that, a semi-worried looking Gilbert following in his footsteps. Gilbert jogged over and knelt in front of Lovino.

“What's up babe?” said Gilbert, brows knit and hand on Lovino's knee.

“I told you not to call me that and put your hands up further,” said Lovino, scowling.

Casting his gaze around him nervously, Gilbert chuckled, “Aha ha ha, you want me to touch you for the first time since your heat in the doctor's office?”

Smacking the top of Gilbert's head, Lovino said, “Dumb-ass, my stomach. Put your hand on it.”

So Gilbert did, still confused as ever. He waited, and waited, nothing happening until finally Lovino heard the alpha make an sharp intake of breath, “The baby kicked.”

Grinning proudly, as if Lovino himself had urged the bambino or bambina to kick, he said, “Yep. It's pretty great.”

As if unable to contain himself further, across the room, Lovino heard Alfred announce, “I felt the baby kick, Mattie. Isn't that amazing?”

Dr. Williams patted his overly excited mate's shoulder and took him by the hand. Then the doctor said to Lovino, “As usual, you are my last patient of the day, so feel free to use the waiting room as long as you feel the need to. Just remember everything I told you Gilbert.”

At the door clicked shut, Lovino felt kisses being pressed up the middle of his rounded belly. He couldn't get over how sappy and romantic Gilbert could be. The alpha was such a manly man and yet so open with his affections. It was so different to Ludwig, who seemed to dislike public displays of affection with Feliciano.

“Is it bad that I really want you right now?” said Gilbert, kissing up Lovino's chest and up his neck.

“Yes. You're a damn pervert. Getting horny at a time like this,” said Lovino in a tone that didn't hold very much malice.

“I can't help it. Having the proof of you growing our baby inside of you,” said Gilbert, making a quiet growl by Lovino's ear.

Pushing the alpha away, Lovino moved to standing. Truth be told, he didn't care why Gilbert got horny. It was flattering in a way. 

It was just, simply put, Lovino wasn't ready for sex yet. He wanted to be ready, but he was still talking things through with the doctor.

“So what did the doc say that you had to remember?” said Lovino, changing the subject, he'd deal with things like sex when he was closer to being ready.

As they spoke, they got their coats on in order to face the chilly weather outside. 

“He wants me to go and get a scan done on my brain. It will help him determine how it works or something,” said Gilbert, shrugging, “I only paid attention to what he wanted me to have done. It's more because the guy seems to be really into this whole unique mates thing and he's helped you a lot.”

Lovino opened the front door and went out first, the stairs went down the outside of the building, but were kept ice free and were nice and wide. This made Lovino happy, because moving around really could suck when you carried this much damn extra weight.

“You should have let me go first,” complained Gilbert in one of the whiniest voices that Lovino had ever heard him use. 

“Hey, I'm carrying your damn kid, have patience,” snapped Lovino, more prone to bouts of anger than ever before.

“No, it's just that if I went first I could be there to catch you if you fell,” said Gilbert.

Lovino stood flush against the wall and tried to give Gilbert as much space as possible to go by, which wasn't a whole lot considering the size of his belly. 

Gilbert slipped by and then began to walk down the stairs backwards.

“Great, so now you're going to fall and I'll have to climb the damn stairs again to get the doc to call an ambulance,” said Lovino with a snort of derision. 

“No, I'll be fine,” said Gilbert right before he widened his eyes and looked as if he was about to fall backwards.

“Gilbert!” cried Lovino.

Instead of falling backwards, Gilbert just hopped down to the next step and grinned, “See, I'd never fall.”

“We're almost down to the ground anyway,” said Lovino, trying to cover for the fact that he'd been super concerned just then.

“You were totally about to cry over the idea of me falling,” said Gilbert, slinging and arm around Lovino when their feet landed into the fluffy white snow. 

“No. I would have laughed my ass off,” countered Lovino, allowing the touch and actually leaning into it.

“You would have cried like a little baby,” Gilbert said while opening the passenger side door for Lovino.

“Only if you were still alive after the fall,” said Lovino, sitting on the soft seat.

“Uh huh,” said Gilbert once he got in, “So do you wanna eat in or go out to a restaurant?”

Lovino fiddled with the heater and said, “We can eat in. Feli and Ludwig are out of town and going to that specialist, so I can make something.”

“Great. I've wanted to taste more of your cooking. You always let Feli cook for you,” said Gilbert, flicking on the radio and having it play quietly.

“He likes to do it. Says it gives him joy or whatever to provide for his family. I can see it I guess. It's just so much work and I already do enough food prep at the store,” said Lovino. 

“Sure. Oh hey, I like this song,” said Gilbert.

The two of them spent the rest of the ride listening to crappy pop. By the time they were almost at the house, Lovino had a thought.

“Hey. I need some steaks and some sparkling cider. Don't you laugh at me, I can't have wine but I want something good dammit. So just drop me off at home to start the food while you go,” said Lovino, opening the door as soon as Gilbert pulled into the driveway. 

“Sounds like a plan Lovi. I'll be back before you know it,” said Gilbert.

Once out of the car, Lovino made his way inside as fast as he could. He had a major craving for potatoes. He'd been eating them a lot, but hadn't tried his hand at making them. Lovino was certain that he'd be able to do a better job of it than either of the two Germans. Italians knew all there was to know about cooking. 

To Lovino, that was just fact.

He got out the cast iron pan and started it heating with a little oil. Then he poured more oil on and decided that a lot would be better. That was what he always saw Ludwig do, not that Lovino had ever watched the jerk fry potatoes. It hadn't made Lovino drool at all.

Next, he rinsed some potatoes and began to chop them into bite sized pieces. He left the skin on because that was the way he found that he liked them best. Once he'd done that, Lovino carefully placed the normally loathed spuds onto the heated pan, listening to the sizzles and pops from the cooking food.

Lovino washed his hands and then dried them off with the nearby tea-towel, putting the drying cloth on the counter nearest the stove without much thought because he was already feeling slightly drowsy again.

“There, now all I have to do is wait for them to cook enough to be ready to flip over,” said Lovino, hands on his hips.

Then Lovino sat down on the couch in the living room with the newspaper, reading it, blinking sluggishly. Before he knew it, he'd rested his head on the arm of the sofa and had begun to snooze.

#

Gilbert hummed to himself as he drove down the street. He'd probably bought more groceries than needed, but he loved to provide for his mate. There had also been a sale at a toy store and Gilbert had picked out a stuffed bird after thinking it over for a while about what he wanted to get. 

More like talking himself out of buying the whole store for the baby.

Man, he just couldn't believe that the baby had kicked. How awesome was that? Pretty damn great if Gilbert said so himself, which he had. Out loud. Several times since he'd driven off to buy groceries.

Lovino was far enough into the pregnancy that Gilbert thought they should head to a Babies'r'Us and pick out some adorable cribs and clothes. He figured that they could get some ones with bird designs on them. Maybe there would even be stuff with yellow fluffy chicks just like Gilbird. After all, the two of them had decided to wait to find out the gender of the baby. Not that Gilbert ever really planned to dress a girl in pink or a boy in pastel blue.

Bleh.

Gilbert was so deep in his thoughts as well as focusing on driving, that he didn't notice anything amiss. No, he didn't see anything out of the ordinary until he found that he had to stop. 

In front of him, the street was blocked off by a big red fire-truck, a couple police cars and an ambulance. Parking off to the side as best as he could, Gilbert got out of the car, his face feeling as if all of the blood as drained from it. His hands trembled and his chest ached. He had a sudden and terrible sense of deja vu.

“Mein Gott, this can't be happening again. No, no, no, no, no,” said Gilbert, continuing to chant the word 'no' over and over again as he ran ahead.

He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw smoke billowing out of the windows of his bruder's house. It smelled acrid and thick and filled his lungs until he couldn't breathe. Lovino had been in there cooking. 

The walls of the building were crumbling and charred. Lovino had been in there. 

Orange flames licked over the back of the house and the fire-fighters tried to contain the blaze. Lovino had been in there.

Lovino Lovino Lovino Lovino Lovino Lovino.

Turning to the nearest officer, Gilbert grabbed a hold of the woman's upper arms and yelled, “Lovino Vargas. He was in there. Where is he?”

“Sir, you need to step back and calm down,” ordered the officer, firm but not in a cruel tone.

Stepping back, mostly out of the instinctual self-preservation that demanded for him to back away from the officer with a gun, Gilbert tugged at his own hair and said, “He's my mate. I need to know that he's alright.”

Then, from off to the side, near where the ambulance was, Gilbert heard a deep and hacking cough, along with the most wonderful words he had ever heard, “Over -” gasp for breath, “Here-” gasp, “Bastard.”

Gilbert may as well have teleported, he moved so fast, over to the back of the ambulance in a moment. Lovino was being strapped onto a gurney for transportation. Gilbert did a quick glance over his mate as soon as he stepped into the back of the vehicle. 

There was some burning up Lovino's arm, as well as burn marks in various places on the omega's skin. The worst seemed to be the splint on his leg, preventing it's movement, there was some bleeding coming through the bandaging.

What mattered most though was that Lovino was alive. He wasn't dead.

Once he introduced himself as Lovino's mate, Gilbert was let in and leaned down to press a kiss to his mate's forehead, “You'll be alright. I won't leave your side for even a second.”

Lovino looked as if he wanted to say something, but the paramedic stopped him. Instead, the medic said, “With a bit of treatment, your mate will be just fine. He was very lucky.”

Reaching out and grabbing Lovino's uninjured hand, Gilbert brought it to his lips and pressed a kiss to it's top.

“He wasn't the only one who was lucky,” whispered Gilbert.

#

Ever since he could remember, Feliciano had wanted a baby.

When he was but a small child, he remembered carrying a baby doll around with him. He would care for it as if it were actually alive. He'd dress it, keep it clean and even pretend to feed it. In school, he always been one to volunteer to help, as long as the task wasn't scary. He loved to make sure all of his friends and his family were feeling their best.

It was never something he did out of some kind of feeling of obligation. Some omegas felt as if they had to be that way – a nurturing and loving caregiver type. Feliciano simply loved to do what he did.

So he despite feeling sad for Lovino, all those years ago, Feliciano was overjoyed to find his own mate not too long after his eighteenth birthday. It was a dream come true. Along with a binder full of mating ceremony plans, Feli had a binder filled with nursery themes and baby names. 

He really couldn't wait to become a parent.

Yet here he was, sitting a room in the office of a specialist doctor, because he'd had way too many miscarriages to count.

Feeling his bottom lip wobble and tears spring up into his eyes, Feliciano looked over at Ludwig. 

Ludwig wrapped one of his large and comforting arms around Feliciano's shoulders and drew him as close as he could, given that they were in two separate chairs, “Everything will be fine Liebling.”

Feliciano popped from his chair and went over to his mate, plopping into the lap of his big German bear and sobbing into his chest. He didn't care that he was probably getting tear stains all over a very expensive shirt, one that he himself had picked out. Feliciano was too sad to care. 

“But what if I can't have babies just because I am useless. Maybe my body hates sweet little bambinos,” he cried, wiping his face back and forth, “It's our third day and they just called us back and they are taking forever, probably because they have bad news.”

“Now now Maus, that does not make sense. They have a lot of patients here. You and I are not the only ones with this problem. They will help us,” said Ludwig and while his voice sounded almost harsh, the sweet nickname he'd just called Feliciano belied his true feelings.

Feliciano pressed a sweet kiss to Ludwig's lips. He was, of course, used to how the alpha tended to speak, and no longer got upset with the harsh tones of voice. Feli knew they meant nothing when it came to Ludwig's true thoughts. 

Just as he was pulling back, the doctor knocked on the door and greeted them. Feliciano got off of Ludwig's lap and onto his own chair, only blushing ever so slightly.

“Good afternoon. I apologize for the wait,” said the doctor, setting down her manila folder which had several pieces of paper in it, “I have gone over all of the information resulting from your tests here, as well as what your family doctor sent to us. I've come to a conclusion.”

Feli, by that point, was literally on the edge of his seat, bouncing his legs, “Yes? Oh please tell me. I'm never going to have a baby, am I?”

“Actually, with a few changes and carefully monitoring, you will be able to carry a baby to term. There are a couple of issues. The first is a hormonal imbalance, which is causing a number of problems. One of which prevents the uterine lining in your uterus from thickening the way it is supposed to. The hormone imbalance also prevents your body from maintaining a pregnancy. With medication, this should begin to resolve.”

Ludwig nodded sagely and Feliciano said, “Okay. W-what else?”

He felt encouraged at being told he could actually get pregnant.

“The second is a bit more complicated. You have a uterine abnormality. There is a band of tissue called a septum running down the middle of your uterus, without much blood supply. A pregnancy that implants on this tissue will not be able to develop properly.

“This type of problem has really one solution,” said the doctor, tapped her pen against the palm of her hand, “A septated uterus needs to have surgery performed on it to ensure that you will be able to maintain your pregnancy.”

Surgery?

Feliciano looked over at Ludwig with big and wide brown eyes and squeaked, “Ludwig, I'm scared!”

Ludwig placed a hand on the omega's back and rubbed gently, “Why don't we talk to the doctor to find out more about what this surgery entails?”

The doctor nodded and gave a very friendly smile, “All surgery can be scary. However you will be in touch with your surgeon ahead of time and can ask him or her all of the questions you need to in order to feel comfortable. I would also like to remind you that this surgery is only required if you would like to conceive. There are other options available to become parents, if surgery isn't something you would like to consider.”

Feeling jittery, but resolved, Feliciano said, “Okay. I'll do it. I want to have Ludwig's baby more than anything in the world.”

“Then let us make arrangements,” said the doctor.

About an two hours later, the two of them were done at the doctors and in Ludwig's car. They'd already been to the hotel to drop off their paperwork and do a little making out in celebration of potential success at baby-making. They were on their way out to dinner when Ludwig's phone rang. Feliciano answered it because his mate was driving. 

When he answered, he felt his face pale. He barely spoke at all, except for a few words here and there.

By the time he hung up, Ludwig had pulled off to the side of the road and was looking over, concerned.

Feliciano placed the phone carefully down in one of the cup holders in front of the arm rest and turned to Ludwig.

“What's wrong mein liebe?” asked Ludwig.

Clearing his throat, Feliciano eventually spoke.

“Our house has burned down, and Lovino is in the hospital.”

#

Ending the call to Feli, Gilbert slipped the phone into his pocket and leaned back in the faux leather covered chair that the hospital staff had give him. 

Beside him was the bed and Lovino was sleeping on it, eyes fluttering behind closed lids. Gilbert rested his elbow on the side of the bed and leaned his head on the top of his hand. He stared down at the sleeping man and frowned. 

He'd been told by the police what had happened, and Lovino when the man could speak in between naps. Lovino had been cooking something on the stove, forgot about it. Something caught fire, likely a towel or rag of some sort. It spread, but Lovino had been so tired that he hadn't woken up until the fire had spread all over. He'd been sleeping on the couch. A bone in his leg had a hairline crack in it and a number of deep cuts because a china cabinet had begun to burn and had fallen on Lovino.

Thankfully he'd pried himself out from under it and got out of the house in time. The baby was also fine, but the hospital was keeping an eye on the pregnancy just in case.

Gilbert couldn't imagine what losing another mate would have done to him. Losing another child.

He hadn't realized that tears had been dripping down his cheeks until he felt Lovino reach up and wipe the wetness away. Gilbert hadn't even noticed Lovino open his eyes before then either.

“I'm fine,” said Lovino, no insulting names added to the end of his sentence, “So stop crying.”

Lovino's words were still hoarse, but Gilbert didn't have difficulty understanding what was spoken between them in the relative silence of the private room.

“Y-You have no idea what that was like Lovi,” said Gilbert, not feeling like himself at all, but for once not in a violent way that would result in binge drinking and cruelty.

No, he was broken open and all he could do was just feel.

“Well I was in the fire so I think I do.”

Gilbert shook his head, “Other than to therapists, I haven't spoken about this to anybody. Some parts of this I only ever mentioned to Fritz.

“When Elizabeta died, I was driving up the road to our house. The road had been blocked off by fire-trucks and cops. There was black smoke billowing up. Back then as well as today, I was later coming home than I should have been. And both times-”

Gilbert could do this. He really wanted Lovino to know. It was important.

“Both times, my mate was pregnant,” finished Gilbert in an uncharacteristic whisper, lacing Lovino's fingers with his and leaning his head down to rest on their clasped hands.

For a long while, Lovino was silent, before he said, “Nobody else knew?”

Gilbert shook his head. 

“How far along was she?” asked Lovino, subdued.

“A couple of months. We wanted to keep the secret to ourselves for a while.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah,” said Gilbert, finally raising his head.

The silence between them wasn't uncomfortable. It was nice. Gilbert felt better, having gotten that off of his chest. So he said, “This probably isn't the best place to say this, Lovino, but I love you.”

A tiny smile came to Lovino's lips and then the omega kissed the top of Gilbert's hand and said, “I know.”

Gilbert didn't mind that Lovino hadn't answered back in so many words. His actions just then made his feelings clear. God knows that Gilbert would hate to be pushed into saying those three words out loud if he didn't really, really want to.

He supposed that he should call a nurse, but he wanted just a bit longer with his mate before they were interrupted for tests and whatnot.

Then, the mood was broken when Lovino said, “Hey Bastard! I'm thirsty as hell. Go get me water dammit.”

Lovino's lovely self was back, swearing just as much as ever and Gilbert couldn't be happier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a pretty big head canon for me that when Germany and Italy are alone, they use lots of pet-names for each other. But only ever when they are alone. Nobody will ever know that Italy refers to Germany as 'his bear'. LOL


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for the wait and that this chapter is still small. I've been busy with back to school stuff plus writer's block and then more busy-times. So I've decided to break the labour/birth stuff up. So instead of the two chapters I've previously promised, I'll put out three or four smaller ones so you guys don't have to wait forever and a day.
> 
> An Andrologist is a doctor who specializes in men's reproductive and urological health. In a world such as this (where men can get pregnant), I imagine that they'd also become an OB/GYN (or OB/AND if you will). Andrology is known as 'the science of men' just like Gynecology is known as 'the science of women'. I'll shut up now.

Chapter Ten

With a vicious scowl turning up his lips, Lovino lay on his left side and stared at the television. He was currently in a hotel room that Gilbert had been renting for them. It was actually an entire suite with two bedrooms so that Feliciano and Ludwig could stay there as well. Of course, while Ludwig wasn't thrilled that his house had burned down, he understood that it was an accident. Ludwig had believed him and been pretty decent about the entire situation. Besides, their house was insured anyway, and their parents had copies of most important photos and documents. 

Gilbert had been so thrilled at the survival of his mate, he barely even noticed when the very leftovers of Elizabeta's belongings that hadn't burned in the fire that killed her, were burned in the fire that Lovino inadvertently started. The only thing that Gilbert saved and put into storage was his old mating amulet.

As Lovino lay there, he felt the peculiar sensation of little bird feet on his head. It was always a weird feeling in his opinion, but he didn't mind it that much. He was actually grateful that little Gilbird had survived, because of how important it was to his mate.

Gilbird's survival was a case of luck, really.

Since the tiny yellow creature was quite well trained, Gilbert usually left it's cage open and just made sure there was nothing dangerous laying around for it to peck at. It had even been trained to fly back to it's cage to do it's business. However it was just a bird, and therefore not perfect. Ludwig would get upset at finding leavings that Gilbert didn't notice, and so would usually close the cage door behind the bird, keeping it inside.

The day of the fire, Ludwig wasn't there to close the cage door since he was at his appointment with Feliciano. Gilbird had, at some point, flown free when the fire started. Thankfully, a neighbour had seen the bird and recognized it as belonging to Gilbert. They coaxed the bird over with food and kept it safe until it's return to Gilbert.

Of course, Gilbert had taken his feathered friend to a vet. The medical professional had said that they were especially lucky. Not only that Gilbird was found, but that he obviously got out rather soon from the fire. Smoke was very dangerous to the delicate lungs of a bird. Gilbird, however, seemed fit as a fiddle.

Lovino poked his finger at those scaly little legs until the creature's feet sat upon it and took Gilbird off of his head, “Hey, you. I don't want you shitting in my hair, got it.”

Then he let the bird fly off to one of the perches the Gilbert tended to place everywhere. It was probably one of the most spoiled birds on the planet.

Lovino felt guilty enough about the fire, so he was glad that he didn't have to add the death of Gilbert's pet on top of all of that.

He remembered the look of fright on Feliciano's face, when the younger omega had come running into Lovino's hospital room, a nurse following behind him and requesting that he slow down. As carefully as he could manage, Feli had thrown himself onto Lovino's bed, sobbing about how worried he'd been when he got the phone call about what had happened. 

It had turned out that Gilbert hadn't been the most detailed with what happened when he'd spoken to Feliciano on the phone. Though it was understandable, considering how upset the alpha had been at the time. Gilbert had barely been able to focus on anything but being with Lovino.

Really, Gilbert was still very worried and was doting and hovering over him like if he took his eyes off of the omega for even a second, Lovino would burst into flames. It was both cute and annoying as hell, considering how much Lovino treasured his alone time. In the end, Lovino usually didn't do much to dissuade Gilbert from his over-protectiveness. He would complain about it a bit and swear at Gilbert if he hadn't left him alone in a few days.

However in the end, physically moving away from Gilbert was just too much damn work. That and he really did love Gilbert, even if he hadn't said the words yet.

Lovino was on his last month of pregnancy. His due date was only a few days away and he could barely move to save his own life, let alone to run away from his overly anxious alpha.

Thankfully, Gilbert was out of the suite. Everybody was out doing various things; the phone was left with Lovino's reach in case of emergency. Ludwig and Gilbert were out looking at some upscale duplex that they were thinking of buying so that the two sets of brothers could live close together and in peace. Feliciano was out with a friend after Lovino had all but kicked him out of the hotel and told him to get a life and return the requests his friends made for him to hang out. 

Though kicked really meant yelled at. Lovino had gone from the bed to the couch. His only trips up were for the bathroom, because the baby liked to headbutt his bladder. 

When he had mentioned that at a dinner party, both Antonio and Gilbert cooed and said that the baby was just like Lovino, prone to headbutting. Lovino didn't find it very funny. It was his bladder that the baby was beating up, dammit. Laura had looked over at him sympathetically, nursing her young son that had been born only a few months previous.

The other thing that would get Lovino up was food. 

He had a huge hunger. All he wanted to do was eat. However, the growing baby made less room for his stomach, so Lovino couldn't eat as much. That meant that he was eating all the time.

He was just grateful that nobody had seen him eating toast piled with sauerkraut. Only sauerkraut.

None of that mattered right then because he was neither hungry nor did he have to take a leak.

He was horny as hell.

It wasn't from anything on TV, it was hormones. So many hormones running rampant through his body, making his dick throb. However, he and Gilbert hadn't had sex yet. Lovino would have been ready by then if it hadn't been for the fact that his pregnancy had made him feel not even slightly in the mood.

Even that morning, when Gilbert had kissed him goodbye a thousand times, nearly being late for the showing of the building that they wanted to buy, Lovino hadn't been very aroused. It was just a sudden wave of 'oh-damn-take-me-now' that hit him. But Gilbert wasn't around.

One of his hands drifting down, Lovino grabbed himself with a moan. The feel of his own hand was good, and a sensation that he hadn't had much time or urge to experience. Since he didn't know how long he had and he didn't want Ludwig walking in on him, Lovino tried to be quick. Being that he was on a couch, he had an enormous belly and was laying down, jerking off was rather difficult. Not that it stopped Lovino from trying.

He held himself and let his mind wander. As his thoughts drifted, they came up to Gilbert. Imagining the naked body that he'd seen so often but had almost never touched. Lovino wished that he had a better idea of how those muscles felt, all of them at once. His only experience with them was resting a hand on them at night time when they shared a bed. Just barely skimming the hard planes of the alpha's chest. He wanted to nibble on Gilbert's skin like he was made of chocolate. Lick his dick like it was a Popsicle.

Oh hell, now he was hungry and horny. He decided to finished up what he was doing and then go find some yummy foods. 

That's when, as he got closer to orgasm, he heard a chuckle.

Lovino's eyes snapped open to see Gilbert standing in front of the television, cheeks flushed but a shit-eating grin parting his lips. 

Lovino struggled to sit up, grumbling and his erection not flagging in the slightest.

“Go to hell for laughing at me,” he shouted, having to catch his breath after the exertion of sitting coupled with yelling.

That didn't stop Gilbert from laughing, if anything it made him do it harder and he moved to kneel in front of Lovino, “Relax would you? You could have told me that you needed some lovin'.”

Lovino's face felt as if it burst into flames and he looked away, as he usually tended to do when embarrassed, “I was adjusting myself.”

Grinning even wider, if that was even possible, the alpha said, “You frequently adjust yourself while moaning my name?”

Then Gilbert tapped on his pone that Lovino hadn't even seen him holding and pulled up a little video clip. It was of the omega writhing just then on the couch, clearly masturbating.

“Delete it,” cried Lovino, flailing in front of him to get to Gilbert, who just stood up and out of reach.

“Nope. I don't want to. It's not like I'd let anybody see it. If they did, I'd tear their eyes out,” said Gilbert, shrugging as if it weren't a big deal.

“Delete it now and I don't bludgeon you to death with the next thing I see,” scowled Lovino, his body getting tired just from the act of getting mad, so he stopped moving around so much.

“Okay, okay fine. I don't want you to stress yourself out,” said Gilbert, showed himself deleting the video and then moved back in front of Lovino.

Moving his rough and calloused hands up Lovino's legs, Gilbert said, “You know, I don't mind helping you out. That's what mates are for. You don't even have to do anything to me afterwards. Just enjoy.”

Gilbert slid down the soft track pants that Lovino was wearing and the omega shivered with anticipation. The last time they'd had sex was when he was in heat. Back then, Gilbert hardly had to touch Lovino before he was erupting into numerous orgasms. Since then, Lovino hadn't had the desire or courage to ask Gilbert for one.

Lovino could only just barely see the tip of his own dick, and it was rosy red and slightly damp. Gilbert's tongue darted out and lapped at it, groaning right after, “Your taste is awesome.”

Then Gilbert just dove right in. He took the entire length of Lovino's prick into his mouth before any more words could be said. To Lovino, it felt just right. Exactly what he needed.

He didn't realize that it was a tad too sloppy, noisy and uncoordinated. He hadn't been blown before and Gilbert hadn't gone down on a man before either. That wet mouth around Lovino's cock was perfect, one hand rolling his balls and the other running up the sides of his swollen belly. Heat coiled inside of him, ready to burst. Lovino grabbed onto Gilbert's hair and whimpered.

Right before he came, without very much warning at all, Lovino cried, “Coming.”

Without moving off, Gilbert took the length as far as he could and let Lovino spill himself down his throat.

When the world came back into focus to the dazed and so very sated omega, Lovino blinked over at Gilbert, who was sitting on the couch with the pants zipper open. Gilbert was stroking himself and staring at Lovino.

“Let me help,” scoffed Lovino, curling his right hand around Gilbert's and pumped together with him.

Lovino shuffled closer and pressed soft kisses to whatever skin was showing and within reach, feeling the moisture of the pre-cum slip under his hand. At one point, Gilbert had pulled his own hand away and it was just Lovino working. Gilbert palmed Lovino's cheek and dipped down to draw him into a deep and loving kiss. So gentle but anything but chaste, the slip and slide of their tongues moving together, the faint taste of Lovino in Gilbert's mouth.

It didn't take long for Gilbert to come as well. They kissed afterwards lazily for a few more moments before Gilbert got up.

“Lemme go get you a tissue,” said Gilbert, turning around and going to the box across the room.

That was when Lovino felt it. There was a slight warmth on his belly before he felt a trickle of some kind of liquid dribble down his lower abdomen.

Lovino lifted his shirt and looked at the brown line that he'd been noticing over the past week or so. It ran vertical to his Iliac crest. Getting it wasn't necessarily a sign of labour, but it did mean that it was close. Right then, however, it was ever so slightly parted, a wet line of amniotic fluid dripping down.

By that time, Gilbert had turned around and his jaw dropped, “L-Lovi? What the heck is going on?”

Rolling his eyes, Lovino said, “Didn't you pay attention in school?”

“Only to things like math and stuff, everything else was boring.”

“Only you would think that about a subject as dull as math,” groaned Lovino, suddenly feeling a slight wave of discomfort roll through his abdomen. It was like his uterus had hardened all over. 

It sucked, and he hoped that he wouldn't get too much worse.

“Are you going into labour? Now? Okay. Don't panic. The awesome me is here to help you through this. Just let me think for a second,” started Gilbert, pacing but talking as if he were perfectly calm, “How long do we have?”

Snorting, Lovino said, “I don't know. It isn't as if a timer has grown onto me or something. The Andrologist that Dr. Williams sent me to told me that I have quite a few hours to go from when the birthing seam first parts. But labour does go a bit quicker for men, so who the hell knows.”

When Gilbert suddenly jogged off in search of their labour bag, Lovino stood as well. He moved into the bathroom, waddling the entire way. He grabbed a towel and dabbed at his belly, getting off all of the clear liquid which was tinged pink in some spots. Once Gilbert found where they put their bag, they didn't need to grab anything else. Everything that the two of them would need was in that canvas bag, so Lovino wasn't worried about that.

No, he was nervous about giving birth. It was supposed to hurt. A lot. That much was obvious to anybody who knew just about anything. 

Lovino had always been a wuss about pain. What if he couldn't do this? What if he panicked and couldn't breath while trying to push the baby out and then something bad happened?

He sat down on the lid of the toilet and hung his head, taking deep and yet shaky breaths. Tears sprang to his eyes and dribbled down, a sob filling the room with it's shuddering sound.

He didn't notice Gilbert come up beside him as well as he could and began to rub Lovino's back, “Are you in pain?”

Lovino shook his head but refused to let himself say what was really wrong. He felt that if he admitted to being scared than it would just prove to the world that he was a coward. Other people did this all of the time. 

“Hey. Everything will be alright. After all, I'll be there for you,” said Gilbert, placing a soft kiss to the top of Lovino's head. 

“I guess,” said Lovino, standing back up and accepting the hand of his mate. 

“I just can't believe that I'm so awesome at giving head that I induced your labour,” cheered Gilbert from in front of Lovino, pumping his fists in the air like a rowdy teen.

Lovino plodded by Gilbert, smacking the alpha's head along the way, “Let's go.”

If Gilbert could be happy and strong, then Lovino thought that he could as well.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gah! So late. I am sorry once more and this isn't even extra long to make up for it. But, it's here at least. That's something?
> 
> Just one more chapter after this, which will hopefully not take forever and a day to write up. I already have it in my head how I want it to go, so in theory it should be easy to write up.
> 
> Fiorellino= my little flower.

Chapter Eleven

Everything about the hospital sucked. 

Sure, the birthing ward was not as bad as the other wings. Not as hectic and didn't have as much frantic running and loud machinery. That didn't matter though. The place was still grey, sterile and filled with people constantly poking into his business, probing him and subjecting him to tests. Furthermore, the nesting materials the staff had on hand weren't the best.

He hated it. The only perk in this whole thing was the fact that Gilbert hadn't left his side.

Lovino crouched, leaning on his forearms against the nest in the birthing room and breathed at the end of a particularly nasty contraction. They were closer and closer together now and he felt like he could die.

A firm pressure slowly pressed into his lower back, rubbing down hard. Gilbert was humming under his breath, though still missing the beat to a pop song that Lovino recognized. Lovino groaned as the pain eased ever so slightly in his back.

“Kill me,” said Lovino, clenching his eyes shut. 

“Nein,” said Gilbert, massaging some more, “You've been doing great so far. And no drugs.”

“Worst decision eve-Ahhhh!” cried Lovino, before remembering to even out his breathing, deep intakes of air.

Gilbert's hand didn't move away, just kept with the counter-pressure. 

When the pain faded, Lovino panted and looked back. He moved and turned to lean against Gilbert. Lovino knew that he was sweaty and greasy and generally gross. His birthing seam was still leaking all sorts of nasty crap. But Gilbert didn't seem to care, he just held Lovino close.

There was a cough from the door as well as a bubbly but thankfully not yelled, “Fratello!”

With the faintest of blushes on his face, Ludwig stepped in, his arm around Feliciano in order to keep the small omega from bounding into the room and knocking things (or Lovino) over. Lovino lifted his head from Gilbert's chest once he took one last deep breath of his alpha's comforting scent and looked over at his younger brother. 

“I picked you up some cookies from Ludwig's bakery,” said Feli, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt, which Lovino could tell was one of the shirts that his brother used to paint in so it didn't matter if it got messy, “I'm going to be here now until you give birth. Don't you worry.”

This was something that Feli and Lovino has discussed ahead of time. Feliciano had really wanted to be there for the birth of Lovino's first child. Lovino, at first, hadn't been so sure. When their grandpa Roma had also requested to be there, Lovino quickly chose Feliciano to be the second person and reminded their old man that only two people could be there for the birth.

Having his grandfather there while he was naked and pushing a baby out just wasn't an idea that Lovino could stand. In fact, Lovino wasn't even comfortable with Ludwig around, and not because the two of them didn't always get along very well.

Lovino watched Gilbert's red eyes glow faintly and glare over at Ludwig, “Why are you here bruder?”

The fact that alphas grew very possessive over their birthing mates was the reason for almost all OB/GYN/ANDs being omegas. A rare few were betas. Being an alpha in the profession just wasn't possible. After all, no alpha would allow another alpha that close to his naked mate. Even if it was a perfectly logical thing to be happening, instinct would disallow such an action.

Feli looked over at Ludwig and blew him a kiss, “You can go now. I'll be fine.”

Looking between Gilbert and his own mate, Ludwig sighed and then said, “Call me when the baby gets here. I look forward to meeting my niece or nephew.”

Despite the lingering pain and total discomfort, Lovino couldn't help but laugh. The absolute seriousness that Ludwig said those words with just cracked him up. Tears rolled down his cheeks and Lovino wondered if the labour had begun to make him lose his mind.

He didn't know.

However Lovino did know that his tongue felt looser and he felt more open to being honest, “You know potato bastard, you're alright.”

The jaws of everybody in the room dropped and they just stared at Lovino. They were still for long as another contraction rolled through Lovino's body and he whimpered in Gilbert's arms. His entire body trembled violently and he eased himself against some pillows, semi-sitting.

“I need to push. Oh god I need to push,” yelled Lovino.

Feli knelt at one side of him and Gilbert was at the other. They both held his hands.

“Well try to keep it in,” said Gilbert unhelpfully.

“Yeah, I'll get right fucking on that,” scowled Lovino fighting to avoid pushing with another contraction

At some point Ludwig had jogged off and a nurse came into the room.

Snapping on some white protective gloves, the lady said, “So somebody in here feels like pushing?”

“YES!” yelled Lovino, desperate and even though he knew to wait for the doctor, he gave in and pushed just a little.

“The doctor will be in very shortly, he was already in the building,” she said, kneeling in front of Lovino and squeezing a gel on her fingers, “Alright. When you're ready.”

Lovino nodded and then the lady checked his cervix.

The nurse smiled and said, “Ten centimetres alright.”

As soon as the lady turned, taking off the glove and depositing it into the proper waste receptacle, Lovino looked at both his mate and his brother in a panic, “I don't want to do this anymore. I can't be a parent.”

Though Lovino had all but yelled those words, the nurse just worked on her papers. Perhaps if he hadn't had a mate, she'd be over, however most medical professionals knew not to intrude upon a nest, even verbally. Not unless it was actually an emergency or otherwise required. 

Gilbert turned Lovino's head gently and they met eyes as Feliciano's grip tightened ever so slightly on his hand.

“You are perfect. You are so strong-” started Gilbert.

“No I'm not. I'm weak.” said Lovino, still unable to keep his damn thoughts in his head.

“No. You are strong, to have put up with all you have. You are the epitome of awesome,” said Gilbert, taking a cloth from beside them and wiping sweat off of Lovino's face.

Feliciano pressed a kiss to Lovino's temple, not caring when the other omega shifted away with a scowl, “Yeah and you'll be a great parent. You are already a great fratello.”

Normally Lovino would think about complaining about how sappy this was, but he really needed to hear those words. He needed to know that he could do this.

His OB came in then, a mask over his mouth and donned gloves. Lovino was so happy to see the guy by then - because damn he needed to push this kid out - that he would have offered to kiss the guy. The doctor made a part in the nest barrier so that he could kneel in front of Lovino. There was a low standing tray that was just outside and within reach.

“Alright then Lovino, when you feel your next contraction start, take a deep breath and then hold it while you push out. Okay?” said the doctor, very calm but professional.

Lovino did just that. Of course, he'd read about what to do, so he knew, but a reminder was always helpful. He breathed and then pushed. 

After that, things became a blur of pain. His birthing seam burned like hell and he felt as if he were tearing apart. For all he knew, he probably was.

What he did know was Gilbert. His alpha was there for every moment, every single second. With him, touching and caressing him, encouraging him.

Then, he felt his baby slide free, as if all at once, when he pushed out the shoulders.

Both men were quiet, Gilbert in anticipation and Lovino with exhaustion.

It was his brother who first said, “It's a bambina. A little girl. Oh Lovino.” 

The umbilical cord was cut and the baby was brought over to a warming bassinet to be looked over. She was still so quiet and the longer she went without taking a breath, the more Lovino worried. Was it just him, or had she looked a little off when she came out? Was she alright?

Lovino didn't even realize that he'd been crying until the tears were streaming down his cheeks. Gilbert was frozen in place, gripping Lovino's hand as they both stared over at the bassinet. Afraid of what they'd see.

The only one who was brave enough to venture over was Feliciano, who also looked concerned and was wringing his hands.

However right then, a strong wail ripped through the room from tiny but incredibly powerful lungs. Everybody in the room smiled. Gilbert kissed the top of Lovino's hand and then jogged over to see their baby.

“She's so-” started Gilbert, trying to find the right word and looking down with amazement, gripped the side of the bassinet that didn't have nurses beside it, “She's awesome.”

Lovino just laid his head back and let the doctor help him push out the placenta. Of course he was desperate to see the little baby he had carried inside of him for so long, but he was too exhausted to do much other than wait.

Before long, Gilbert came over, his face alight with joy as he gazed down at the bundle covered in a soft cotton blanket. Feliciano was on the outskirts of the room, poking at his phone, probably sending a text to Ludwig.

“Can you hold her?” asked Gilbert.

“Yes,” said Lovino.

A nurse piped up from nearby, “Take her blanket off and lay with her skin-to-skin. It a very good thing to do.”

As Gilbert began to remove the blanket, leaving their daughter in her just her diaper, Lovino said, “What if she gets too cold?”

The nurse smiled and sat nearby, writing on Lovino's files, “Your body temperature helps to keep hers regulated. But if you are concerned about it, drape the blanket over her.”

Then, Lovino got the first good look at his baby. She had lots of hair for a newborn, dark and still slightly damp, peeking out from under the pink knit cap that she wore. Her eyes blinked open and he saw that they were red.

“She has your eyes,” said Lovino, very quiet as if he was afraid of spooking the child.

“And your hair,” said Gilbert.

“Lots of babies are born with dark hair. It can change,” said Lovino, bringing his hand down to lightly stroke down her petal soft cheek.

“Yeah, maybe. What are we going to call her?” asked Gilbert who was reclining beside Lovino in the nest and had his arm around him, protecting his new family.

“She needs to have the name of your mother,” said Lovino firmly.

From across the room, Feliciano called out, “Si, it's tradition.”

“So Josepha?” asked Gilbert.

Lovino nodded while staring down at his daughter, Josepha, enraptured. The infant yawned and began to nod off.

“What about Elizabeta for her middle name,” said Lovino, also drifting off and seeing Gilbert keep a hand on the baby to ensure that she didn't fall off.

“W-what?” whispered Gilbert, tensing up.

“It'd be a good way to-” started Lovino before his lips were captured by Gilbert's own, soft and sure.

When Gilbert pulled back, he breathed the words, “I love you,” against Lovino's lips.

Lovino smiled as his eyes slid shut, “I love you too.” 

#

“Are you sure that's right?” grumbled Lovino, sitting in the front seat of Gilbert's car, his arm resting gently over his abdomen where his birthing seam was slowly healing up.

Gilbert fiddled with the car seat some more, “Ja, it's what the instructions said online.”

From the other side of the car seat was Ludwig, who said, “I think that this seat belt should go this way.”

Ludwig took the opportunity to smile down at the baby. Lovino couldn't see whether she was awake or not.

“Nein bruder, it goes this way,” insisted Gilbert, tugging on one of the grey straps.

Grandpa Roma popped in beside Gilbert and fiddled with the buckle, “What if you take this out and put it here? And OoOoOo look at my little fiorellino opening her sweet eyes.”

Roma shoved Gilbert away and sat next to the seat, letting the infant grab at his fingers and trying to bring them to her mouth.

Feliciano also shoved aside Ludwig and said, “Here. I can help.”

“Feli I don't think-” said Ludwig but stopped when he saw that Feliciano had just then, in a few seconds, successfully clipped in the car seat the way it was supposed to go. The omega leaned back on his legs with a smile and looked proud of himself.

“All done. Let's go and get back. I have a lot of food to cook for the welcome home party for Josepha,” said Feli, very stern and looking very focused, as he tended to do when he was about to cook large amounts of food. 

Lovino leaned back. It had only been two days since the birth, but he was so tired. People had come to visit, nurses came to do tests. Furthermore, the baby had been up at all hours breast-feeding and wanting to be held. Lovino loved it, but it tired him out never-the-less. 

Gilbert hadn't been there at night and Lovino had wondered why. The alpha said it was a surprise. 

Even though he really didn't like not knowing things, Lovino had been too tired to argue. Gilbert was being too tight-lipped anyway and the two of them were both incredibly pig-headed. 

As they drove, Lovino noticed that they were going the wrong way, “Hey what the hel-heck. What the heck bas-Gilbert? You are going the wrong way. This isn't how you get to the hotel.”

Lovino grumbled under his breath. He was really trying hard to get his swearing under control now. It would take a while and he figured it was better to do it now than when their daughter was learning how to talk and accidentally picked up a curse word. 

“We aren't staying there anymore,” said Gilbert, tapping happily on the steering wheel and kept grinning in Lovino's direction.

“Well where are we going?” said Lovino, leaning back the seat he was in so that he could crane his neck and check up on his daughter. 

She was sound asleep. 

After a while, in a nice section of town, where all of the lawns were well manicured, with perfect green lawns and groomed hedges, their car turned into a circular driveway. The house they pulled up into was made of dark grey bricks that were fleck with white. The house was pretty damn big and there were doors to get in. As if it were a duplex, though it had clearly been originally a large house like the rest of the places on the block. 

Wait? A duplex? Like the one Gilbert and Ludwig had been looking at before. 

Lovino looked over to Gilbert in sudden realization, “You bought the place?”

Gilbert nodded, “And got everybody we know to help up set the two places up so that we could move in right away.”

Feeling his lower lip wobble, Lovino turned around and looked out the passenger side window. But right then, Ludwig, Feli and Grandpa Roma were pulling up and would be able to see the tears building up in Lovino's eyes, so he glared at his lap. Tears poured down his cheeks by then and he started to sob. 

Lovino felt pathetic, sobbing like this but he just couldn't help it.

“Lovi, what's wrong? Don't you like it?” said Gilbert, wrapping his arms around the shaking shoulders of the omega. 

“I-” hick, “Love,” sob, “It.”

Cried Lovino into Gilbert's chest.

“Then what's up?” asked Gilbert, sounding confused and rightfully so.

“It's nice,” whispered Lovino, “It's really nice and you are so wonderful.”

Gilbert shook his head, “It's the least you deserve after everything.”

Lovino brought his head up and, with his cheeks aflame, brushed his lips across Gilbert's.

“I love you,” he said, so quietly and hoping it was loud enough for Gilbert to hear.

It obviously was loud enough, because Gilbert flashed a wide smile and said, “I love you too, now let's check out our new house.

Carrying the car seat in his hand, after Feliciano helped them unclip it, Gilbert walked through the door to their side of the home. Lovino followed, tentatively, and saw his whole family in the living room. Not his parents. They had visited in the hospital for a little while, but not long. As always, they were so very disinterested in him.

No. The family that mattered was there for him, blood-related or not. 

Feliciano and Ludwig, Antonio and Laura (along with their two children), Gilbert's mother and father and finally, Gilbert himself. The alpha had taken the baby from the car seat and was rocking her back and forth, gently, in his arms. 

The scene was so beautiful that Lovino walked over, holding back his tears once more, only to nuzzle his face into Gilbert's side and began to cry once more. It was perfect.

And he couldn't be happier.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah. So here we are at the end of their story. I hope that everything made sense in so far as it can with omega-verse. I hope that I tied everything up when it came to Lovino x Gilbert and Feli x Ludwig. Also I hope the ending so good for you. I've had it planned since the end to be this way ^_^. Thank you to everybody who stuck with this until the end. Thank you for the wonderful reception this had. Ah. I'm so happy. The next story in the series, as I have mentioned, is AmeCan.
> 
> And please don't hesitate to give me constructive criticism if you have something on your mind. I promise I will understand. It helps me know where to improve for future stories. 
> 
> So anyway, enjoy. :-D

Chapter Twelve

Once more, Gilbert found himself sitting at the desk of Dr. Williams, who, quite frankly, looked happier than what could be considered normal over the contents of the papers in front of him. The doc shuffled them, straightened them and then looked up at Gilbert with shining violet eyes. 

“After the tests that you went through, as well as consulting with your former doctor back in Germany, I've come to some conclusions,” said Dr. Williams.

Since the doc almost appeared to be unable to continue due to sheer enthusiasm, Gilbert prompted him, “Yes?”

Dr. Williams cleared his throat and said, “For the longest time, mates were assumed to be solely given by a higher power. It's why we call them fated mates.”

Gilbert said, “Yeah. I know. Who doesn't?”

Ignoring the attitude, Dr. Williams said, “The thing is, myself, as well as a few other scientists have been challenging this for a while. We aren't discounting the intervention of a higher power, but we feel that the mate bond can be explained in a mostly scientific way. Your data was some of the last that we needed.”

Dr. Williams stood up and began to pace, smile wide, “When you went through the fire at the loss of your previous mate, and then suffered from a head injury, critical changes occurred in your brain. Ones that are responsible for inability to smell. Each person, man, woman, omega, beta or alpha, have a unique signature in their brain. It controls how we interpret smell, sight, sound and who our mates are. Because of the sheer number of ways that the cells can combine into each unique brain signature, we almost always get one mate. When you were injured, your brain had to compensate for it's losses and restructure itself. ”

Now Gilbert may act like a doofus sometimes, but he was really quite intelligent. He understood quickly what the doctor was trying to say. 

“Are you saying that until the right circumstances occurred at the time of the fire and Elizabeta's death, Lovino wasn't my mate?”

Dr. Williams nodded, “That's right. Until then, you only had one. Now granted, the fact that many people come into contact with their mates could be considered divine intervention. That still needs to be researched.”

Gilbert suddenly felt sad, “So if Elizabeta hadn't died, Lovino may never have found a mate?”

The doctor hummed thoughtfully and then said, “Perhaps not, or the person who was his mate died at a young age or is still out there.”

Growling quietly, Gilbert said, “Well they can't have him. He's mine.”

After a few more minutes of discussion, and the reassurance that Gilbert would come back for more tests if need be, they parted ways. Gilbert went slowly down the stairs, thinking hard.

He didn't know how to feel about this. On one hand, Lovino was no less his mate than he ever had been and Gilbert loved him deeply. On the other, he was sad that Lovino's happiness had to come at the result of another person's death.

While Gilbert still did love Elizabeta, the love he had for Lovino far overpowered it now. Even though Elizabeta's life was cut short, at least she got the chance to find a mate.

The idea that Lovino could possibly have never found a mate made Gilbert sick. Lovino was so wonderful and deserved everything good in life. He deserved somebody there for him. 

No.

Dr. Williams might not be a man of faith, but Gilbert felt like a higher power brought him to Lovino. They needed each other. They made each other whole. 

Gilbert slipped into his car and drove off to his next destination. What he was going to do next had been planned for a while. He just needed to put all of the rest of the pieces into place. 

#

Lovino watched his daughter slowly rock in the mechanical swing he'd set her in. Her chubby hands reach out to bat at a hanging toy monkey, a toothless grin on her face in sheer delight.

Dio but the baby loved that thing, which had been a gift from Antonio and Laura. They had also given them lots of hand-me-downs from their own children. It had been very helpful to have all of those extra clothes. Lovino had no idea before then how fast a baby grew out of clothes and dirtied them. He did now.

Having a baby was hard, but he was learning.

Taking advantage of the baby being distracted, Lovino slipped out of the room for just a moment. Lovino was looking for some that was hidden in a cabinet under a sink in the laundry room. To get there, he had to step over piles of clothes. Of course Gilbert wouldn't bother to put dirty clothes in the laundry basket. It astounded Lovino how Gilbert could be so anally clean and neat with some things and so lazy about others. 

Rolling his eyes, he reached the long rectangular box that he'd hidden there. Since Gilbert didn't do laundry, there was no way he'd find the item where Lovino had put it. 

Opening the box, Lovino looked down at an amulet that was covered in white gold. Etched into it's surface was an eagle clutching the stem of a single violet in it's beak. It had cost a pretty penny but it looked gorgeous. He still hadn't quite decided when it give it to Gilbert and ask for them to have a ceremony. Nobody else knew that he'd commissioned for the amulet to be made. So really, he had all the time in the world. 

Except that all of a sudden, the door to the laundry room opened. Lovino hastily shoved the jewellery into the pocket of his pants since it was too late to tape the box back up. Then he fiddled with some of the fabric softener sheets that they stored under the sink to make it look like that was why he was kneeling there.

Standing up and spinning around, Lovino said, “What the heck? Don't you knock?”

Gilbert didn't seem to care about the attitude and shrugged, “I don't need to knock. I live here, remember. With our baby? Who is asleep by the way.”

Lovino said, “Oh good.”

Then he was about to walk by Gilbert when his arm was grabbed by the elbow. Lovino looked back to see Gilbert's hooded eyes and a smirk that was frankly, sexy as hell. Pulling Lovino in, Gilbert whispered in his ear, “I think we should take advantage of this time, don't you?”

Sucking his lower lip into his mouth and biting on it, Lovino nodded.

Before he knew what was happening, Gilbert had picked Lovino up and had slung him over his shoulder, carrying him that way up the stairs.

“We wont be able to hear the baby,” protested Lovino.

Gilbert patted the side of his own pants, “There's a monitor on beside her and I have the speaker clipped to my jeans.”

“Oh,” was all Lovino could really think to say as he was brought up to the room.

It had been seven weeks since the baby had been born, more than enough recovery time. Gilbert had been wanting sex earlier than Lovino, but hadn't pushed the subject. He'd just mentioned it every now and again.

Last night, however, Lovino had been watching Gilbert towel off after a shower and felt very aroused, staring at those perfect muscles. Lovino couldn't help but think how Gilbert was just the right kind of buff.

At noticing the looks that Lovino had been giving him, Gilbert went about seducing Lovino. They wanted their first time having sex again since Lovino's heat to be slow and loving.

But before Lovino could even get his clothes off, the baby had begun to cry. 

That, of course, was last night. Now the baby would probably nap for a while.

Once in their room, Gilbert lowered Lovino onto the bed with more care then he'd used when slinging him up onto his shoulders. The alpha made quick work of his own clothes because while they did have enough time to have sex, they would not want to take the chance of being interrupted. 

Yet as Lovino felt Gilbert's hand on his lower shirt, going to lift it off, the omega said, “Stop. Just gimme a sec.”

Lovino stared at the ground, filled with nerves. He hadn't been naked in front of Gilbert since he'd had the baby. His new body looked different. Saggier and covered in stretchmarks that no amount of cocoa butter could get rid of. 

What if Gilbert thought he was ugly now?

“What's up? We don't have to do this now,” said Gilbert, even though the man's voice strained and his firm erection was pretty telling as to why that was. 

Lovino shook his head, “It's not that.”

Gilbert sat down beside Lovino and said, “Then what is it?”

“Never mind. Just do it with my shirt on.”

“I want to see you naked,” said Gilbert, fingers playing at the hem of Lovino's shirt once more. 

“No dammit,” grumbled Lovino, not too loudly so he didn't accidentally wake the baby.

Gilbert's fingers trailed down to Lovino's pants. The omega was too lost in thought to remember what was in there. 

Before he knew it, the amulet had been pulled out and was dangling in front of Gilbert's eyes. 

“No way,” muttered Gilbert, red eyes wide.

Lovino lunged and snatched it away, ending up sprawled onto Gilbert's lap, but clutching the amulet to his chest.

“Pretend that you didn't see that,” said Lovino, trying to slide off to stand and walk away.

He didn't get nearly that far before he was wrapped from behind in a tight embrace. Gilbert pressed a kiss to the back of Lovino's neck and the bent to his own jeans pocket. He pulled out an amulet that had nearly an identical design.

“The shop just finished it. I picked it up after the appointment with the doctor. To think we were both going to propose, and had thought of the same designs. Pretty awesome,” said Gilbert, posing with the amulet he had bought for Lovino, not even caring that he was stark naked while doing so.

Lovino rolled his eyes, “You and that fucking word.”

“What word?”

“Awesome. You say it all the damn time.”

Gilbert snorted, “I don't say it anymore than you say damn.”

Lovino glared before chuckling, “Fine dammit you're right. I like the word damn.”

Gilbert sat back down and patted the spot beside him, “So you want to have a ceremony?”

“Yes, of course,” said Lovino, taking the amulet that he had made for Gilbert and squeezed it in his hand once before he put it on around his own neck. 

Gilbert did the same. They'd exchange them during the ceremony, whenever that ended up being. 

Seeing the white gold amulet around Gilbert's neck, Lovino suddenly no longer cared about the way he looked. He felt silly for even thinking it was issue. 

So he pulled the rest of his clothes off, leaving the amulet and sat naked. Gilbert was beside him and stared shamelessly, “Beautiful.”

Their lips met gently, more so than ever before and it was so very chaste for the two of them being naked. The fingers of both of their hands entwined and they fell back onto the bed, bodies pressed close.

However it wasn't long until their hips were rubbing together, creating a hot friction between them. Their cocks were both dripping and creating a slippery slide of pre-cum. 

Lovino gasped, breaking the kiss and moaning, “Just do it.”

There was already lube on the drawer and Lovino was too horny to wonder when it had appeared. He didn't care about anything other than, “Fuck me.”

Gilbert shook his head, “Corny as this will seem. I'm not going to fuck you. I'm going to make love to you.”

Cheeks red, Lovino looked away, “Sap.”

Gilbert smirked and coated his fingers, sliding one into Lovino who gasped from the cold. Since Lovino was an omega, he could be stretched easily even when he wasn't in heat. The only thing he couldn't do outside of heat was self-lubricate.

He scratched and clawed at Gilbert with his blunt fingernails, “Hurry.”

Gilbert laughed and said, “Ja, ja. You'll get my amazing dick soon.”

By soon, Gilbert had meant within seconds, because that was how long it took for him to be buried to the hilt. Lovino wrapped his legs around Gilbert and whimpered.

Just as Gilbert looked down at Lovino, a look of worry wrinkling his forehead at the thought that he'd hurt the omega, Lovino moaned, “So good. Move. Please.”

And they did. They moved slow and gentle, so unlike their personalities, but a deep expression of their love. Bodies slippery with sweat, every inch being caressed, necks and chests kissed with sloppy open mouths. Never going fast or hard, even when their bodies craved it. They wanted the gentle connection. 

When they'd nearly reached the peak of their bliss, Gilbert sunk his teeth into Lovino's skin. Right where the mating mark from the last heat had been placed and scarred. Lovino did the same with the skin over Gilbert's heart, sinking his own blunt teeth in as far as they would go.

That was enough to send them spiralling into orgasm, quivering and moaning, spilling out their passion. They finished with whispered words of love.

Just in time too, because right as they flopped to their backs, panting and gasping for air, the baby monitor went off. A soft whimper and then a shrill wail of a hungry baby rang through.

After a quick kiss, they both sat up and got dressed, casting loving looks over at each other, but not needing words to express how amazing it had been.

“I can get her,” said Gilbert but Lovino put a hand on his elbow.

“I will, she's hungry. Why don't you go get Feliciano and ask him to make us all food? You can even invite over the potato,” said Lovino.

He didn't even care that Gilbert rolled his eyes and said, “I thought you said that my bruder wasn't so bad?”

Lovino said, “Yeah so? He's a decent guy, but he's still a potato bastard.”

Gilbert left the house to go next door while Lovino picked up his daughter. Her little red eyes popped open from their former state of scrunched up and crying. She rooted around, searching for Lovino's nipple. Since Lovino hadn't bothered to put his shirt on, she found it easily.

He went over to the couch and wrapped them both up in a blanket while she fed. There was nothing wrong with people nipple feeding in public, but Lovino was uncomfortable with it. His brother and Ludwig were bound to come in at any time. Feliciano was forever offering to cook for Lovino and Gilbert after all.

Lovino leaned back and enjoyed the close bonding he had with his baby.

This was wonderful.

He was very happy.

#

Six years later

“This is the town daddy grew up in,” said Gilbert from behind the wheel of the rented car.

Gilbert looked in the rear-view mirror at Josepha in her car-seat. She had her face plastered against the window of the car, her wild auburn hair falling all over her shoulders. She refused to let them tie it up or cut it. She was a perfect angel, but refused to budge when it came to her hair. The only one who could get her to agree to tying it up was her three year old cousin Alrik – Ludwig and Feliciano's boy – who seemed to think that Josepha in pig tails was hilarious.

“Wow Daddy, it's awesome,” said Josepha.

From the car-seat beside her, came a small voice that mimicked, “Awesome.”

“Oh great, now you have Camilla saying that. As if it wasn't bad enough that Josepha's first word was 'awesome'.”

Camilla was their one and a half year old daughter.

Gilbert just let out a cackle.

Yeah, they were on a family trip to Germany. They all had two weeks for vacation and on the second week they were going to drive to Italy and see the sights there. It was the first time they'd all been to Europe together, or anywhere outside of North America for that matter.

They were going to sight-see really soon. But there was one thing that Gilbert had to do first.

He stopped the car on the side of the road, under the shade of a large and green-leafy tree. Lovino raised a brow and Gilbert saw that he was about to say something. Of course then he must have seen where they were and closed his mouth. 

He understood. 

Gilbert was glad, because he didn't really want to have to explain himself. He just gave Lovino a soft kiss to the lips and said, “Be right back.”

He got out and went into the trunk where he had a small garden trowel. Then he walked through the iron wrought gates, which were ajar for visitors. Everything was perfectly lush and verdant, headstones in rows and rows in the graveyard that had been used for many generations. 

Finally he came to a place where he'd once gone nearly every day. Yet it had been many years since Gilbert had last been there.

Elizabeta Héderváry 

Beloved Mate and Friend

There were fresh flowers by her grave. Roderich must have been there recently. Gilbert hadn't seen him since the funeral, but knew that the man still missed his friend. 

Falling to his knees beside the marker, plain the way that he knew she'd like it, Gilbert rested his head on the cool stone. He hadn't shed tears for Liz in years, since Lovino came to his life. But seeing the grave of his once mate, he couldn't help but let a few drip down his cheeks. 

“I know I haven't come to see you in a long time, but I still miss you Liz. I have a new mate now. He's my fated mate as well. I love him. More than words can express. We had a ceremony. It was small, with just immediate family and a few close friends. It didn't cost a lot or look very fancy but I'll always remember it.”

“We have two daughters now as well. They are so smart. I think you'd adore them. You'd like Lovino too. Both of you are incredibly stubborn. He keeps me on my toes that's for sure. Also, you'd be sure to tell me how handsome he is and you'd be right on the mark.”

Gilbert took his old mating amulet out of a pocket in his jacket. He carefully dug up some of the grass with the trowel, making sure it was all in a clump. He dug some of the dirt a bit deeper as he continued to speak.

“I love you too still. Feelings never really go away. I just love Lovino more. I feel honoured to have known you, and spent so much of my younger life with you. But I've moved on. That's why I'm giving this back to you.”

Gilbert pressed a kiss onto the amulet before he dropped it inside the hole he had dug. He piled the loose dirt back onto it and placed the grass back where it had come.

“I'll always remember you, but I think this will be the last time I come here.”

Then he pressed one last kiss to the headstone, before he turned and walked away. As he saw the road, he could see that Josepha was skipping down the sidewalk beside the car. Lovino was sitting on the hood of the car and holding a squirming Camilla, whose blonde hair was gleaming in the light of the beautiful day.

He jogged across the road and smiled over at Lovino, who asked, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I really am.”

Because he had Lovino and that would never change.


End file.
